Berbice man receives death sentence

Criminal-JusticeBerbice:  Ramesh Sahadeo, 45, called ‘Bado’ of Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice resident was Thursday sentenced to death by hanging by Justice Brassington Reynolds, after he was found guilty of murder by a mixed jury in the Berbice High Court.

Sahadeo was on trial for the murder of 17-year-old Darshanan Ramanan called ‘Tato’ of Bush Lot Housing Scheme, which occurred on September 20, 2009.

The jury then took just over two hours, retiring around 13:00hrs and returning at 15:00 hrs, with the unanimous verdict of guilty of murder. 

Defence attorney Raymond Ali argued self-defence; however, he had also argued that the incident was an accident. He claimed that there were a lot of inconsistencies during the trial and that the prosecution’s two eyewitnesses were consistently deceitful.   

State prosecutor Dionne Mc Cammon in her submission to the jury had stated that the prosecution case was clear and very straightforward and based on the two eyewitnesses who were at the scene having been in company with the deceased when he was killed.

Reports were that Ramanan was at the corner of the street while the defendant was passing and an argument ensued between them. Sahadeo dealt Ramanan a single chop to his neck and calmly walked away. Ramanan was seen running frantically up and down the street a few times before collapsing to the ground, bleeding profusely. He died before receiving medical attention.