Former police officer Yogendra Sukhdeo has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2023 murder of businessman Amit Singh and will have to serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.

The sentence was imposed by Justice Sandil Kissoon in the Demerara High Court after the 30-year-old admitted to the capital offence, abandoning his earlier not guilty plea before his trial was due to begin.

Justice Kissoon also ordered that the period Sukhdeo spent on remand be deducted from his sentence.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge characterised the offence as “a cold, deliberate act of murder committed in the course of a robbery,” finding that greed was the motive behind the killing.

The court heard that Singh was robbed of approximately $8 million during the attack.

Sukhdeo had initially denied murdering the 21-year-old businessman and was scheduled to stand trial before a 12-member jury.

However, he changed his plea to guilty before the jury was empanelled, bringing the matter to an end without the need for a trial.

The prosecution’s case was that Singh, of Delph Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, was enticed to a property at Middle Road, La Penitence, under the guise of a gold transaction.

When Singh failed to return home, his relatives reported him missing, prompting a police investigation that ultimately led to Sukhdeo’s arrest.

Investigators later found Singh’s body wrapped in a blood-stained sheet at the La Penitence property.

A post-mortem examination revealed that he had suffered multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma to the head, face and neck, as well as several fractures.

Police also recovered a large sum of cash believed to have been stolen from Singh, along with a piece of wood suspected to have been used to inflict the fatal injuries.

Attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat appeared for the prosecution, while attorneys Dexter Smartt, Eden Corbin and Shercola Exeter-Sardina represented the convicted man.