Sentence cut to 12 years

In addition, the court said it will instruct the Registrar to write to the Minister of National Security with a view of having arsonist Peter Mc Donald transferred from prison to a mental institution for treatment.

Mc Donald has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

It was not until the end of Mc Donald’s trial, during sentencing, that it was brought to the trial judge’s attention that Mc Donald had a history of schizophrenia.

In addition to information provided by relatives to defence attorney Ulric Skerrette and Dawn Mohan, there was no other evidence to support the claim at that time.

In the circumstances, Justice Melville Baird turned down an application by Skerrette for a probation officer’s report and sentenced Mc Donald to 17 years.

At the appeal yesterday, attorney Bindra Dolsingh instructed by Michelle Solomon, raised the point about Mc Donald’s mental illness. There were two psychiatrists reports — one from Dr Iqbal Ghany, and the other from Dr Gerard Hutchinson.

In his report, Hutchinson stated that Mc Donald, being a schizophrenic, did not premeditatedly plan to set fire to the building as was suggested in the prosecution’s evidence.

However, testifying before Appeal Court judges Justices Roger Hamel-Smith, Allan Mendonca and Paula Mae Weekes yesterday, Dr Hutchinson explained that while Mc Donald did not leave home with such intentions, when he lit the match to set fire to papers in the store, he knew what he was doing and that it would result in damage.

The extent of damage he would not have anticipated. In other words, his action was deliberate, but not necessarily aimed at burning down the building.

In light of Dr Hutchinson’s viva voche evidence yesterday, Dolsingh withdrew one of his grounds of appeal, which was based on the psychiatric reports. On that ground, he had earlier argued that Mc Donald did not have the capacity to formulate an intention of committing the crime of arson. The court noted that Dolsingh’s withdrawal of the ground was in keeping with the highest tradition of the bar. However, Dolsingh was successful in having the court vary Mc Donald’s sentence. Senior prosecutor Trevor Ward, represented the State.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Hamel-Smith said that copies of the psychiatric reports will be sent to the minister in addition to the court’s recommendation that Mc Donald be transferred to St Ann’s Mental Hospital, where he is to receive treatment as recommended by Dr Hutchinson. However, the Minister of National Security is entitled to act on this recommendation only if he sees it fit.

On July 31, 2001, Mc Donald, of Malick, Barataria, then 38 years old, started the fire by lighting newspapers in a corner of the store.

As the building went up in flames, Mc Donald tried to take money from one of the cash registers, but was driven away by a security guard.