Teen gets 6 years

“Imagine a person sent to jail for a trace, and being killed for a bottle of rum.” Saying, however, that accused Ramesh Seuinarine, of Erin Village, could not simply get a slap on the wrist for killing his father, the judge sentenced him to six years in jail.

Seuinarine was 15 years old when he chopped his father — Raymond - to death, at their Buenos Aires, Erin home. The young accused had pleaded guilty to murder on June 13 before Volney in the San Fernando High Court. His plea, though highly unusual, was accepted by the judge on the ground that he was a minor at the time of the incident.

State Prosecutor, Joan Honore Paul, said the incident occurred on August 15, 2002 - two days after Raymond, 42, had threatened to planass Seuinarine with a cutlass.

In passing sentence, Volney told the accused that while the court believes he was remorseful and contrite, the law demands retribution and punishment for murder. In reading the sentence, Justice Volney said, “I will have to detain you at the court’s pleasure at a place of detention to be determine by the Commissioner of Prisons.”

The judge said he had a responsibility to send a message that a person cannot get away with committing murder. However, Volney said he hoped that the authorities would give Seuinarine the sort of guidance in jail, to allow him to return to society at the earliest possible time.

Attorney Chateram Sinanan, instructed by Anuusha Panday, submitted that the Probation Officer’s report revealed that the accused was mentally and physically abused by his father.