Teen charged, remanded to prison for murder of Berbice labourer  

The teenager who fatally stabbed a Corentyne labourer during an altercation at Nigg, Corentyne, Berbice, last Friday was on Thursday slapped with a murder charge and was remanded to prison. The 17-year-old suspect from Corentyne appeared before Magistrate Michelle Matthias at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, where he was charged with the murder of Carter Baboolall, called “Baboo.”

He was required to plead to the indictment when it was read to him. Attorney-at-law Vinay Punwa, who represented the teenager, argued that the defense was surprised by the murder charge and maintained that the teenager acted in self-defense.The attorney told the court that Baboolall had allegedly bullied and attacked the teenager on previous occasions and claimed that on the day in question, the accused was attacked at a wash station.

According to the defense, the teenager was pinned to the ground and repeatedly punched before he allegedly stabbed Baboolall. Punwa further argued that a manslaughter charge would have been more appropriate under the circumstances. The attorney also made an application for bail, citing a Trinidad and Tobago court ruling which he said showed there are circumstances where bail can be granted in murder matters.

Punwa pointed to the teenager’s age and the fact that he allegedly has no previous convictions.However, the Magistrate asked the attorney whether there were any local cases supporting such an application, but he related that he was not aware of any. Police Corporal Sherry Williams objected to bail, arguing that murder is a capital offense and that the Magistrate’s Court could not grant bail in the matter.

Bail was subsequently refused, and the teenager was remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre until June 30. An autopsy conducted on the body of Carter Baboolall found that he died from shock and hemorrhage due to multiple stab wounds. Reports state that Baboolall sustained seven stab wounds, several of which pierced his lungs.