Granny killer loses appeal

A Princes Town man described as a “habitual criminal,” who raped a 78-year-woman and caused her death when her dentures suffocated her, lost his appeal yesterday and had his sentence of 15 years hard labour for manslaughter to follow a ten-year sentence he is serving for house-breaking and larceny, affirmed by the Court of Appeal. Allan Ramdass will therefore have to serve his ten-year sentence, which started on January 6, 2001 first, before the 15-year sentence begins. Ramdass, who was charged with the murder of Beulah Farrell, of Manahambre Road in Princes Town, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years by Justice Alice York Soo-Hon on December 16 2003. Ramdass’ attorney Devan Rampersad made a courageous attempt to persuade the court, comprising Justices Roger Hamel-Smith (president), Lionel Jones and Stanley John, to reduce his client’s sentence to ten or 12 years.

He even raised a principled point on procedure that when there are conflicting versions of facts, the need for an inquiry (Newton Inquiry) by the trial judge to resolve it is necessary. Dana Seetahal, who represented the State in the matter, argued that in the circumstances of the case there was no issue of conflicting version of the facts. She also argued that the sentence was appropriate, noting that Ramdass had ten previous convictions including offences for robbery with aggravation and house-breaking. She also pointed out that he had benefited from his guilty plea, as manslaughter was accepted by the DPP and the court, and that his offence also requires corporal punishment, which was not ordered. The court found that there was no issue for it to resolve and that the sentence of Justice Soo-Hon was appropriate in the circumstances. The facts of the case are that Ramdass, a drug addict, wanted money to pay for a “ten ball” of cocaine he took on credit from Leon Seepaul on December 13, 2000. Ramdass went begging acquaintances for money, but got none.

However, around 1 am that night, Ramdass bought two 25-rocks of cocaine from Seepaul which he paid for with a $100 bill. At 4 am that morning, Ramdass went to the home of Indar Basawan at Manahambre Road, bought two boxes of matches gaving Basawan $20. Later that morning, Ramdass also offered to sell Isaac Basawan, his former landlord, some gold jewelry, but Basawan refused. On the morning of December 14, David Phillips, called out to his neighbour Beulah Farrell but failed to get a response. When he saw the back door opened and the house ransacked, he notified the police. Farrell’s body was found lying on its back, semi nude, bound and gagged. A post-mortem report revealed that the deceased suffered several contusion and abrasions, but death was due to suffocation. There was also evidence that she had suffered extensive contusions and bleeding in the vagina, and sexual intercourse had taken place. When Ramdass was arrested in a shack on Railway Road in Princes Town December 19, he confessed, saying, “I held down the lady and take she money. I didn’t mean to kill she.”