Derek Achong
A man from Couva, who shot and killed a man after he (the victim) threatened his partner and her father, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Justin Heeraman was awaiting trial for murder for over five years before he recently entered into a plea agreement with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by provocation.
Heeraman was sentenced by High Court Judge Nalini Singh yesterday.
Heeraman was accused of killing David Ramkissoon on April 29, 2020.
According to the summary of evidence in the case, Ramkissoon went to a house in Couva where Heeraman’s partner and her father lived and began cursing and threatening them while shaking their front gate.
After Ramkissoon left, Heeraman arrived to allegedly take his partner to the Couva Police Station to make a report.
While they were driving, they encountered Ramkissoon, who stopped his car, got out and approached Heeraman’s car.
Ramkissoon reportedly cursed Heeraman and his partner and issued further threats.
Heeraman drew a gun and shot Ramkissoon several times before driving away.
In deciding on the starting sentence for Heeraman, Justice Singh noted that Ramkissoon initiated the dispute on the day of his death.
“These events were neither trivial nor contrived and formed the immediate backdrop of fear and tension that the prisoner and his partner had to face,” Justice Singh said.
“The provocation was therefore real and substantial, grounded in escalating hostility rather than a fleeting incident,” she added.
However, Justice Singh noted that Heeraman’s response was not proportional and exceeded what was necessary to neutralise the immediate harm he and his partner faced.
“This was not a defensive single blow delivered in the midst of panic; it was the deployment of lethal force virtually certain to cause death,” Justice Singh said, as she ruled that a 23-year starting sentence was appropriate.
Justice Singh granted a two-year deduction as she noted that Heeraman had demonstrated a capacity for rehabilitation while on remand awaiting trial.
“He had no prior convictions for violence, his custodial behaviour has been exemplary, and he has participated meaningfully in rehabilitative programmes without incident,” Justice Singh said.
She then applied a one-third discount based on Heeraman’s guilty plea, which she noted spared Ramkisson’s family further trauma and preserved court resources.
Heeraman is expected to be released in eight and a half years, as the time he spent on remand was deducted from his sentence.
Heeraman was represented by Collin Elbourne and Aleena Ramjag of the Public Defenders’ Department. The DPP’s Office was represented by Shervon Noriega, Cassie Bisram, and Afeisha Williams.
