Man jailed 16 mths for stabbing

FOR a crime committed when he was 16, a Rio Claro man, after awaiting trial for 12 years, was sent to jail on Friday for a year and four months.

Saleem Khan, 28, of Libertville, was sentenced by Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor in the San Fernando High Court for stabbing a fellow villager. The judge told him that his tender age of 16 in 2007 mitigated against a stiffer penalty, and it was not his fault that his case took 12 years to be tried in the High Court.

At the time Khan stabbed Clarence Mohammed, who was 25, he was due to sit the CXC maths exam at the Rio Claro Comprensive School.

Sate Attorney Raydon Dalrymple-Watts led evidence from Mohammed that on May 11, Khan went to work at a construction site and an argument broke out over the mixing of cement. Mohammed testified that on the following night he was confronted by Khan and Sheron Mason, also of Libertville, another argument started and there was a scuffle. He said he saw Khan holding a sharp object in his hand. and during the fight, he was stabbed in the chest.

Mohamed said he collapsed near his home and one of his brothers found him. One of the wounds had punctured a lung, and he spent several days at hospital.

Khan and Mason were charged with unlawful wounding and had been before Alexis-Windsor and a jury of nine. On May 20, the jury found Mason not guilty but returned a verdict of guilty against Khan. Attorney Subhas Panday represented Mason and attorney Ramesh Deena defended Khan.

On Friday, Mohammed accepted an apology from Khan, who said, "At the time I was just 16 years old and wasn't fully aware of the consequences."

Mohammed replied, "I accept the apology. I just want to say that leh we forget this thing and move on."

Saying the maximum sentence was five years, Alexis-Windsor told Khanher sentencing starting point was three years. Considering his age at the time, it was reduced to two years, and based on his apology, she took off a further six months.

The judge said the time Khan spent upon arrest and his incarceration since the guilty verdict, amounted to 58 days, leaving a year and four months.