JOSHUA Baveghems, 21, was on Tuesday sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter for the August 8, 2015 murder of his girlfriend Angela Felicia McAllister, 18.

Justice Navindra Singh accepted his plea in the Georgetown High Court. State Prosecutor Tameika Clarke told the court that on August 8, 2015 around 01:45hrs the accused had complained to his mother that he was having problems with his girlfriend shortly before she arrived at their East Bank Demerara home.

Clarke related that upon Mc Allister’s arrival at the house, Baveghems dragged her to the kitchen and dealt her several chops about the body in the presence of his mother, sister and brother, who went to a neighbour’s house for assistance. Clarke noted that the police came an hour later and found McAllister lying in the yard.

She was rushed to the Diamond Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Clarke told the court that Angela McAllister died of multiple incised wounds to the body.
There were 19 incised wounds on the body of the deceased, according to Dr. Nehaul Singh, who performed the post mortem.

In his plea of mitigation, defence attorney Keoma Griffith told the court that his client was only 19 years old when the incident took place and was a miner before his incarceration. He added that while in jail his client accepted Jesus Christ and attends chapel and reads his Bible often and has utilised all the in-house programmes, including anger management, in an effort to enhance his life. Griffith noted too, that his client has also shown great interest in boxing in prison and hopes to represent Guyana at an international level if given the opportunity. With that into consideration, Griffith asked the court for a reasonable sentence.

In response, state prosecutor Tameika Clarke said that the deceased was only 18 years old at the time and it is a domestic abuse issue in which both persons involved should have walked away alive but that wasn’t the case. She stated that the accused was a threat to his own family, who had to go to a neighbour’s house for assistance and a strong message should be sent, noting the prevalence of domestic abuse in society.

Clarke asked the court for the maximum sentence to be handed down. Baveghems told the court that he is sorry for what he did because he loved his girlfriend very much and still thinks of her.
He admitted that at that time he was out of control as he apologised to the relatives of the deceased in court on Tuesday and asked for forgiveness. Justice Singh told the court that he has taken into consideration his early plea and the fact that he accepted responsibility for his actions and showed remorse.

The Judge also took note of the accused’s participation in all programmes offered by the prison, as well as his youthfulness and asked him to better himself so he can make a meaningful contribution to society upon his release. Justice Singh then sentenced Baveghems to 12 years in jail and asked that the time he served be deducted and encouraged him to continue to utilise the programmes offered by the prison.