High Court Judge Navindra Singh last Tuesday deferred the commencement of the trial of Simeon Pompey to Thursday, as the young man pleaded not guilty to a murder charge which was read to him on his first appearance at the Demerara High Court.
However, in Thursday’s court session, Pompey, 22, opted to plead to the lesser count of manslaughter, for unlawfully killing his cousin; Sydney Campbell, called “Bakey”, on January 1, 2015 in the county of Demerara.
The accused was represented by Attorneys Nigel Hughes, Ronald Daniels and Ashley Henry while the State was represented by Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy in association with Teriq Mohammed and Sarah Martin.
After accepting the guilty plea, Justice Singh sentenced Pompey to eight years in prison.
Court documents stated that the deceased and his sister, Shondell Jones visited a Chinese restaurant at Clonbrook, Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD) to purchase food.
However, as they were making their way back home, they were approached by Pompey and another male riding a bicycle. During this, Pompey came off the bicycle, and stabbed the now dead man to his chest. Campbell was rushed to a nearby hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
