Housekeeper sentenced for stabbing boss

UPDATE:

A live-in housekeeper who stabbed her employer, disembowelling him, in a robbery attack in 2007, has been sentenced to a little over nine years for attempted murder.

Ria Frank was sentenced yesterday by Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas, who said there was obvious planning to carry out the robbery, bringing Ashton Kalloo almost to death’s door.
Frank pleaded guilty on September 21 last year to attempted murder, wounding with intent and robbery with aggravation. The attack took place on February 13, 2007 at Kalloo’s Champ Fleurs home.

Yesterday, Frank was sentenced to seven years, nine and a half months for wounding, and five years, nine months and two weeks for robbery. Her sentence for attempted murder was nine years, nine months and two weeks. The sentences will run concurrently and were imposed with hard labour.

St Clair-Douglas gave her a one-third discount for her guilty plea and the time she spent awaiting trial. He also said he had to stick to the sentences proposed by another judge at a maximum sentencing indication (MSI) hearing held last year.

Kalloo and his family, his wife Aneisha Gopaul-Kalloo and their young daughter, had just returned home, just before 10 pm, after spending a day with relatives. They saw the lights on in the house, which they found strange, since the housekeeper was usually asleep at that time.
Gopaul-Kalloo went to Frank’s room to speak to her about the next day’s menu, while Kalloo, after putting his daughter to bed, unpacked the car.

Gopaul-Kalloo was ambushed by two men from behind and a knife held to her chest. She was told to stay quiet or she would be stabbed. Frank also had a knife and a rag was stuffed in Gopaul-Kalloo’s mouth and taped shut. She was also hog-tied. She was again warned that if she screamed, she would be stabbed.

She heard her husband’s voice and the sounds of a struggle. Then, she heard Frank say, “Catch him.” According to the evidence, Kalloo untied his wife, who saw he was covered in blood and his entrails were protruding. She left her child with the neighbour and took her husband to the hospital.

According to Kalloo, Frank also used the same ruse she used with his wife by telling him she wanted to show him something.

He saw a man and managed to run from the house and over an eight-foot wall to get help, then ran back to the house and was confronted by his attackers. He armed himself with a knife, but it slipped from his grasp when Frank began stabbing him.

Kalloo said she lunged at him and was “pelting stabs in a rage.” He was stabbed eight times and there was a gaping stab wound to his stomach.

He managed to untie his wife. Frank, when arrested on February 22, 2007, told police she was sorry for what happened but said she and her family were threatened by two individuals and instructed her to let them into Kalloo’s home.

St Clair-Douglas said she failed to mention the ambush, the ruse she used on the couple, her acting in concert with the men and the violence she meted out on Kalloo.

He said of her statement, “It was exculpatory par excellence,” self-serving and misleading.
The judge also pointed out that Frank had intended to steal clothing and diapers belonging to the Kalloos’ daughter, as police found a bag packed with them in the house.

“She helped herself to the child’s clothes and united with the men to carry out a heinous and violent robbery,” he said.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A live-in housekeeper who stabbed her employer, disemboweling him, in a robbery attack in 2007, has been sentenced to a little over nine years for attempted murder.

Ria Frank was today sentenced by Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas who said there was obvious planning to carry out the robbery, bringing Ashton Kalloo almost to death’s door.

Frank pleaded guilty on September 21, last year, of attempted murder, wounding with intent and robbery with aggravation.

She was sentenced to seven years, nine and a half months for wounding and five years, nine months and two weeks for robbery. Her sentence for attempted murder was nine years, nine months and two weeks. The sentences will run concurrently and was imposed with hard labour.

St Clair-Douglas gave her a one-third discount for her guilty plea and the time she spent awaiting trial. He also said he had to stick to the sentences proposed by another judge at a maximum sentencing indication (MSI) hearing, held last year.