A 40-year-old man, who was in 2016 sentenced to life imprisonment after he hacked his three children to death as they lay asleep, has now moved to the Court of Appeal (COA) to challenge the conviction and sentence.
Initially, John Blanchard was indicted for murder by State prosecutors but opted to plead guilty to the lesser offence when he appeared in the High Court before Judge Jo-Ann Barlow.
He was handed a life sentence in relation to each of the killings with the possibility of becoming eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
The confessed killer, in his appeal, contends that the sentences are manifestly excessive and severe in all the circumstances of the case.
On October 11, 2011, Blanchard admitted that at Dr Charles Sand Road, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara (EBD), he unlawfully chopped and stabbed his three young children, Joy,6, Belika,10, and Daniel,4.
Belika and Daniel died almost instantly while Joy succumbed a day later after being hooked on a life support machine at the Georgetown Hospital Cooperation (GPHC).
According to reports, at the time of the incident, the children’s mother – Onica Blanchard had left for the interior where she sought a better job.
It is alleged that the chopping incident stemmed from a phone conversation Blanchard allegedly had with the woman moments before.
Blanchard, who sold clothing to sustain his family, had reportedly been experiencing difficulties with his companion. The two had allegedly split up with the woman leaving the children behind.
