Princes Town man pleads guilty to 2006 shooting rampage

A Princes Town man who went on a rampage with two others, shooting at his neighbour and police, was sentenced by a High Court judge on Monday to time served.

Ricky Ramlakhan was before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine, who sentenced him to ten years of hard labour on each of the seven counts of shooting with intent after she discounted his guilty plea.

The judge also sentenced Ramlakhan to three and one-third years for the count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

After it was confirmed he had spent 11 and a half years (or 4,215 days) in prison awaiting trial, the judge held he had already served his time.

Ramlakhan was ordered to be immediately released from prison.

He was represented by attorney Khadija Beddeau of the Public Defenders’ Department.

Before pleading guilty, Ramlakhan asked for a maximum sentence indication hearing. Brown-Antoine indicated he would receive 15 years for the shooting with intent charges and five years for the assault charge, since there were only aggravating factors and no mitigating ones in the case.

He accepted the indication and after being arraigned, he pleaded guilty.

It was agreed by the prosecution and defence that on November 26, 2006, Curtis Prescott was at a bar at Cedar Hill, Princes Town, when Ramlakhan and two other men pulled up in a car.

The men got out of the car and began shooting. Prescott recognised the men, in particular Ramlakhan, whom he had known for 15-20 years, as they were neighbours and saw each other daily.

Prescott had a conversation with one of the men over money Ramlakhan owed him, which led to a dispute over the amount actually owed.

The evidence was that Ramlakhan shot at Prescott’s feet and hit him in the mouth with the gun while the other men were firing shots in the air. As they drove off, Ramlakhan began shooting in the air from inside the car.

Prescott, meanwhile, called the police and he was taken to the hospital for treatment.

While on duty, a team of officers including PCes Ribeiro, Sahadeo, Sookhai and Hosein spotted the car the three men were in at an intersection at Solomon Street. Ramlakhan began firing at the officers through the back window of the car.

The police shot back and turned into a side street. Another team of police, including acting Insp Singh, Cpl Soodeen and PC Mohammed, met their colleagues and while tracking down the men, they saw the car.

One of the men in the back seat pointed a shotgun through the window and shot at the other group of officers while Singh fired two shots in the direction of the getaway car.

Ramlakhan then fired two more shots at the police and Singh fired several founds with his Galil, which caused the car to stop.

A revolver, shotgun, a black pouch with ammunition, a cutlass and a metal spear were found in the car.

The three men were injured and covered in blood. After the weapons were removed, the men were arrested and taken to the Princes Town Health facility for treatment.

The State was represented at the hearing by prosecutor Giselle Ferguson- Heller.