The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Friday reduced the jail sentence imposed on a man convicted of rape from 23 years to 12 years.
Following a trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and a jury in 2015, the 29-year-old Calvin Ramcharran was found guilty of two offences; namely: rape, and assault causing actual bodily harm, committed on a 20-year-old woman in June 2012.
The judge had sentenced him to 23 years on the rape charge and three years on the assault charge, and ordered that the sentences were to be served concurrently.
At a hearing on Friday, the CCJ reduced the 23- year sentence for rape to 12 years, after ruling that the initial sentence was manifestly excessive.
Ramcharran’s three-year sentence for assault causing actual bodily harm was, however, affirmed by the CCJ in its majority ruling. In the end, the regional court ordered that the 12-year and three-year sentences are to be served concurrently.
Ramcharran’s appeal was heard by CCJ Justices Winston Anderson, Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, Andrew Burgess, Peter Jamadar, and Denys Barrow.
The convict was represented by Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes, while Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Diana O’Brien, appeared on behalf of the State.
