Blue Basin man pleads guilty to killing friend

A man  who claimed that he chopped his friend to death in self defence, pleaded guilty yesterday to the lesser count of manslaughter and will be sentenced on May 25 by Justice Mark Mohammed, after he receives a probation officer’s report on the accused, Ryan Rattansingh. Rattansingh, 24, an auto mechanic/litter warden of Blue Basin in Diego Martin, appeared  in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Assizes, charged with murdering Nazim Ali, 35, a labourer, also of Blue Basin, on the night of August 10, 2002. 

According to the facts related by prosecutor Nalini Singh, assisted by Sattie Maragh-Lalla,  Rattansingh had gone to a fete at the home of Ali’s brother, Nazir. Rattansingh and the deceased had a lot of alcoholic beverages to drink and, sometime before 10.30 pm, Rattansingh and Ali had an argument over $200. Rattansingh left and while walking to his home a short distance away, Ali ran up to him and chopped him on the forehead with a cutlass. A fight ensued and Rattansingh took away the cutlass from Ali and dealt him several chops about the body. Ali then ran to his home, but before he could have closed his front door, Rattansingh attacked him.

Rattansingh’s attorney Osbourne Charles SC, leading Thomas Cunningham, pleaded in mitigation that the facts in this case were different from the typical manslaughter case, although Rattansingh acted disproportionately to the injuries he received and was a bit excessive. Ali  received nine chops, two to six centimetres long, while Rattansingh’s wound was five centimetres. Charles agreed with Justice Mohammed that the incident was fuelled by the consumption of alcohol, which reduced the  requisite degree of control. Charles asked the judge to be lenient, noting that Rattansingh was in no way a threat to society, but a man with a previously good character. Justice Mohammed said that he will consider the issues raised before sentencing Rattansingh, but out of an abundance of caution he will order a probation officer’s report.