Twenty-two-year-old Christopher Stanley was on Monday sentenced by High Court Justice Sandil Kissoon to serve 23 years, seven months in prison without the possibility of parole for the August 29, 2015 killing of 44-year-old Owen Brown at Tiger Bay, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown.
Represented by Attorney-at-Law Maxwell McKay, Stanley, of Rosemary Lane, Tiger Bay, Georgetown, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter when he appeared before Justice Kissoon. He admitted to stabbing Brown to death, but claimed he was warding off a sexual assault from Brown.
Stanley had stabbed Brown 21 times, and Prosecutor Mandell Moore contended that this showed that Stanley had had intention to kill.
Stanley had fled the scene back then after committing the act. Brown, also called “Rasta man”, was reportedly killed on his bed and in his sleep. However, Stanley told Justice Kissoon on Monday that he had lost control when he saw that Brown was going to sexually assault him.
During Monday’s court hearing, Stanley, at times inaudible, appeared to have had difficulty understanding what Justice Kissoon was saying. However, he professed to understand that pleading guilty means he would receive a term of imprisonment.
He later apologised to the family members of the victim. Relatives of both the deceased and the offender were present in court.
Sentencing
Justice Kissoon started the sentence at a base of 25 years, and deducted time spent on remand and for the early guilty plea. This resulted in a term of 13 years 7 months.
However, the judge noted that the court added 10 years for aggravating factors which observed the brutality of Stanley’s actions. As such, he sentenced him to 23 years, seven months.
Just hours before killing Brown, Stanley had attacked another resident with a knife, and was later seen sharpening a knife. It has been alleged that Stanley had suffered with mental issues some months prior to killing Brown. The post mortem examination showed that Brown died from hemorrhage and shock due to multiple incised wounds.
