On Thursday, February 17th, at the High Court, Justice Winston Patterson sentenced 35-year-old Taijpaul Nankishore to eight years in prison, following conclusion of his trial for killing his brother Seepaul Nankishore, on May 7, 2008 at their residence at Foulis, East Coast Demerara.
In presenting his ruling, Justice Patterson told the court that his decision is an extraordinary one, taking into consideration the mitigating facts presented by defence counsel Clarissa Riehl.
He said that he has also taken account of the probation report that was presented by Floyd Rudder, a senior probation officer attached to the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security. Justice Patterson said he was convinced that imprisonment had changed the accused.
“You have learnt an art; that is, you have become an artist, one who will lead a productive life in the future. You have also been shortchanged in your past, since you had to work at an early age to help with providing for your family. The only thing you knew back then was to work and drink rum. Now is the time to reflect and make a wise decision, since you are more knowledgeable,” Justice Patterson told the convict.
He urged the accused to embrace every opportunity to change his life. Justice Patterson praised both the persecution and the defence for their work, and indicated to the accused that both sides had helped him to make his decision.
The court was told that the accused and his brother, Seepaul, were consuming alcohol at their residence whilst they were involved in gambling. An argument erupted between the two brothers when Seepaul grabbed the money out of the hand of the accused and refused to return same. A scuffle ensued, which led to the accused picking up the rum bottle and hitting Seepaul to his neck. In the process, the bottIe broke and Seepaul received injuries, whereupon he collapsed to the ground. Seepaul was rushed to the Georgetown hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Taijpaul was subsequently arrested and charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was first read to him at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court on May 9.
Nevertheless, during the preliminary inquiry, the court found that there was enough evidence for Taijpaul to stand trial in the High Court for murder. On January 21, 2011, Taijpaul entered a guilty plea to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was represented by attorney-at-law Clarissa Riehl, who, in mitigation, pleaded with the court on her client’s behalf.
In her submission, she related that Taijpaul would have to live with the fact that he killed his brother for the rest of his life. She pleaded with the court for mercy for her client, since she claimed that at the age of four her client and his siblings were abandoned by their father and, as a result, the mother had to take care of them. She disclosed that, at age 12, Taijpaul was forced to work with his mother to provide for his siblings and, as such, he was never enrolled in a school to be given the opportunity to study.
In her statement, mother of the accused, Kousilla Seosarran, related that on May 7, 2008, she had visited a friend, and upon her return home she saw that her two sons were consuming alcohol and were already highly intoxicated. She went to the upstairs flat of the two-storey house to prepare meals, but Seepaul, the deceased, came up and threw the utensils out of the house due to some argument that had ensued between himself and Taijpaul.
This, she noted, made her angry, and she left the house and went to her father’s residence, where she stayed for a while. Upon her return home, the men were still imbibing, and she picked up the utensils and went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
Later, she observed Seepaul pulling away the three $20 bills from Taijpaul, which led to a scuffle, then she suddenly heard a bottle break.
Upon hearing that sound, she turned around and saw Seepaul holding his head and blood spraying from it. She said that she immediately picked up her son and took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
