June 2026 criminal assizes: 21 murder, 6 attempted murder, 6 sexual offence cases among 49 completed

…14 discontinued by nolle prosequi

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) disposed of 49 matters during the Demerara June 2026 Criminal Assizes, including 35 cases presented before the High Court and 14 matters discontinued by way of nolle prosequi.

The Demerara June Criminal Assizes commenced on June 2 with 137 cases listed for hearing. Seven judges sat during the Assizes.

Of the 35 matters presented in the High Court, 21 involved murder, six involved attempted murder, two involved manslaughter and six were sexual offences. The 14 matters in which nolle prosequi was entered were discontinued by the DPP.

The matters involved 46 accused. There were eight convictions, 19 guilty pleas, 13 jury verdicts of not guilty, three formal verdicts of not guilty, one hung jury and one aborted trial.

Among the cases prosecuted before Justice Sandil Kissoon, State prosecutors completed eight matters, seven for murder and one for attempted murder with an alternative count of wounding with intent.

Four of the seven murder accused pleaded guilty. One was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years, while two others received 25-year sentences. Another accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years.

In another murder trial involving two accused, both were unanimously found guilty by a jury and each was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.

A separate murder matter involved five accused. Three were convicted by the jury and each received a 25-year sentence, while the other two were acquitted.

In another case involving six accused charged with murder in furtherance of robbery and accessory after the fact to murder, three pleaded guilty and received sentences of 20, 10 and five years respectively. One of the three was sentenced to time already served on remand. The other three were acquitted by the jury.

The attempted murder matter prosecuted before Justice Kissoon ended with the accused pleading guilty to the alternative count of wounding with intent. The accused was sentenced to five years and three months after a deduction was made for the guilty plea.

Before Justice Peter Hugh, State Counsel Padma Dubraj and Geneva Wills completed seven matters comprising four murder cases, two attempted murder cases and one manslaughter case.

Two murder matters ended with guilty pleas. One accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received an 11-year sentence, while another pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was sentenced to six years after deductions for the guilty plea and mitigating factors.

One trial involving two accused resulted in a hung jury, with both accused remanded to prison pending a new trial. The other accused in the second matter was acquitted.

In one attempted murder matter, the accused pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of felonious wounding and was sentenced to five years. In the other, the complainant indicated that she did not wish to proceed, resulting in the judge directing the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

The manslaughter case resulted in a majority verdict of 10 jurors finding the accused not guilty and two finding him guilty. Before Justice Deborah Kumar-Chetty, prosecutors completed seven matters—six for murder and one for manslaughter.

Three of the murder matters resulted in guilty pleas. Two accused pleaded guilty as charged and were sentenced to 22 and 24 years respectively, following deductions for their guilty pleas and mitigating factors. The third pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22.

In another murder case, a jury unanimously found the accused guilty and he was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment. The court also ordered him to enrol in educational and vocational classes while in prison. Two other accused in separate matters were unanimously acquitted by juries.

The manslaughter case before Justice Kumar-Chetty ended in an acquittal after the family of the deceased informed the court that they did not wish to proceed, resulting in a formal verdict of not guilty.

Four matters were completed before Justice Priscilla Chandra-Haniff, including two murder and two attempted murder cases. All four accused pleaded guilty.

One murder accused received 21 years imprisonment, while another, who was charged with murder in the course of rape, was sentenced to 21 years and four months. The two attempted murder accused were sentenced to nine years and four months and 12 years and eight months respectively.

The Sexual Offences Court, before Justice Zamilla Ally-Seepaul, completed six matters. One accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years and four months. Another was unanimously found guilty by a jury of rape of a child under 16 and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 6.

Three other accused were acquitted by juries. In one case involving two counts of sexual activity with a child family member, the jury returned a majority verdict of not guilty. Another matter ended in a formal not-guilty verdict after the complainant said she did not wish to proceed.

Two murder matters were presented before Justice Joy Persaud. One trial was aborted after a juror became ill, while the accused in the other matter was acquitted by a jury.

Before Justice Nicole Pierre, an attempted murder case with an alternative count of felonious wounding ended with a unanimous jury verdict of guilty on the alternative count. The accused was sentenced to seven years.

The 14 nolle prosequi matters included murder, attempted murder, accessory after the fact of murder, wounding with intent, unlawful wounding and sexual offences. The DPP said the main witness in one murder case had died, while complainants in the other matters submitted written statements indicating that they did not wish to proceed.