Convicted killer resentenced by Appeal Court

ONE of three men who pleaded guilty to killing Palo Seco businessman Uttam-Deo Maraj in July 2005 has been resentenced by the Court of Appeal.

Keffin Lawrence received a minor discount after appellate court judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Prakash Moosai and Mark Mohammed upheld his appeal on sentence and applied the various discounts for his guilty plea and the ten years, nine months and 13 days he spent on remand as he waited to go to trial.

Lawrence and his co-accused Lyndon Ramah and Ray Oliverrie all pleaded guilty to killing Maraj on the basis of felony murder.

They were all sentenced to 17 years and 11 months.

Ramah and Oliverrie both appealed their sentences, arguing that the sentencing judge failed to properly calculate their sentences and apply the appropriate discounts. In July 2016, the court upheld their appeals and substituted a sentence of 13 years and three months.

On Tuesday, Lawrence received his discounts.

As they provided their calculations, Lawrence’s starting-point sentence was 35 years, and he received his one-third discount for his guilty plea and full credit for the time he spent in prison awaiting trial, leaving 12 years, six months and 11 days, which runs from the day the original sentence was imposed on May 11, 2016.

In his appeal, he too complained that the judge failed in calculating the sentence and should have given him more than a one-third discount because of his co-operation with police, his instant remorse and the lesser role he played in the crime.

In their decision, the judges said there was no need to distinguish between Lawrence’s involvement in the killing and those of the other two to justify a reduction in sentence. They also said there was no justification for any discount because of his background (he was 19 at the time of the killing).

Lawrence was represented by attorneys Keith Scotland and Asha Watkins-Montserrin. Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions George Busby represented the State.

Mohammed, who delivered the court’s oral decision, also said the case was not so exceptional as to move away from the conventional discounts given for guilty pleas and time spent, adding that sentencing was a balancing exercise.

Maraj was shot in the head on June 30, 2005, by three men who stormed his family’s bar at Beach Road, Palo Seco. The three went to the family’s home on the upper floor, and Maraj’s mother pulled down the handkerchief covering Ramah’s face. He hit her with a gun butt to the side of her head.

At some point during the robbery, Oliverrie threatened to kidnap Maraj’s sister and the businessman begged them not to kill him. Lawrence tied Maraj’s hands and Ramah shot him in the leg. After one of the men gave Maraj a false assurance that his life would be spared, Ramah putd a gun to Maraj’s ear and shot him in the head at close range.

The post-mortem report revealed a gunshot wound on the left side of his head and another on the upper front right leg. The cause of death was skull and brain injuries and haemorrhage.

When they were held, all three gave confession statements to police, detailing the plan and how it unfolded.