…previously jailed for killing wife
A man who had previously served 17 years in prison for killing his wife was on Thursday handed a 14-year jail sentence for brutally chopping a woman he met shortly after his release from the correctional facility.
Neil Archer, a 49-year-old former cane harvester of Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, was arraigned before Demerara High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall on February 14 on the indictment of attempting to commit murder, and he admitted that on October 19, 2016, in the county of Demerara, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded the woman with intent to murder her.
His sentencing hearing was deferred to Thursday, March 3, to allow time for the compilation of a probation report and victim impact statement.
Previous conviction
The court heard that Neil Archer was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment on July 25, 2005 for unlawfully killing Shevon Archer, his wife and the mother of his children, whom he stabbed several times to her neck on July 5, 2003.
Reports state that on the day in question, the woman had gone to Archer’s home and accused him of scandalising her name. He had told the court that the woman pulled a knife on him, and he took it away from her and stabbed her to her neck.
He had been indicted for the capital offence of murder, but opted to plead to the lesser count of manslaughter.
Archer was released from prison on July 9, 2016.
And while armed with a cutlass on the night of October 19, 2016, Archer attacked this other woman while she was asleep, and chopped her to her neck, hand, back, and other parts of her body. She was saved from Archer’s wrath by her son.
During that altercation, several of the woman’s fingers were severed. Given the severity of her injuries, the victim has been unable to ply her profession as a cook, since she has been unable to fully use her hands.
Angel of death
In her victim impact statement, the woman described Archer as an “angel of death”, but stated that she has forgiven him, even though she is still traumatised by the incident, which almost resulted in her death.
She told the probation officer that Archer, who has been on remand since 2016, has made threats to her life from behind bars, and she therefore called on the court to deal with him condignly.
As for Archer, he expressed that he hoped the woman could find it in her heart to forgive him. The convicted killer apologised to his children for being away from them for so long, and pleaded with the court to give him a chance to return to society and redeem himself.
Deterrent
State Prosecutor Cecelia Corbin urged the court to consider the serious nature and prevalence of the offence, especially against women, when considering a sentence for Archer.
Among other things, the Prosecutor asked the Judge to impose a sentence that would serve as a deterrent, not only to Archer, who has no intention of being reformed, but also to like-minded individuals.
Justice Morris-Ramlall has sentenced the convict to 14 years in prison, less the time he spent in pre-trial detention. She has also ordered that he undergoes monthly counselling for anger management during his incarceration.
Archer was represented by Attorney-at-Law Teriq Mohammed.
Meanwhile, in 1997, Archer was given two seven-year prison sentences for attempted murder and wounding with intent respectively; but since the sentences ran concurrently, he had spent only seven years in jail. He reportedly committed these offences against another woman.
