DEREK ACHONG
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A man from Barataria, who tried to suffocate his four-month-pregnant girlfriend with a cushion before setting her on fire during an argument over the paternity of the unborn child, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for attempted murder.
Sherwin Cadore, of Malik, Barataria, received the sentence after he was convicted by High Court Judge Sherene Murray-Bailey at the end of his judge-alone trial, last month.
Cadore was accused of attacking the victim, who he was in a relationship with for several years, on June 27, 2013.
The victim, whose identity was withheld by this newspaper due to the nature of the case, claimed that she was at Cadore’s home when they argued as he returned home from a lime at a neighbour’s home.
She claimed that Cadore began choking her in the living room and she fell. He then took a cushion from a sofa and attempted to smother her with it.
Cadore got off her after she dug him with her nails and kicked him.
He went outside and returned with a bottle of gasoline which he used to douse her and set her on fire.
She ran into a nearby yard in which there was a tank overflowing with water, threw herself on the ground and rolled to extinguish the fire.
She then ran to her sister’s home from where she was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment for third-degree burns to approximately 65 per cent of her body including her head, face and hands.
The victim spent almost two and a half years in hospital including some time in a coma before she was eventually discharged.
During her protracted time at the hospital, she gave birth to her baby, who was unharmed despite the attack. A subsequent paternity test revealed that Cadore was not the father.
Cadore was arrested by police after he went to the hospital to seek treatment for burns to his hands and face.
Police contended that he confessed when he was first interviewed.
While he did not testify in his defence or call any witnesses, Cadore, through his attorney Roshan Tota-Maharaj, denied giving the alleged confession as he claimed he was acting in self-defence.
He claimed that he was smoking marijuana with the victim and they had an argument after she refused to pass it (the marijuana).
He claimed that the victim drew a knife from the kitchen and tried to stab him.
Cadore, who was employed with the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep), claimed that he went outside to tend to his weed wacker when she attacked him again.
He alleged that gasoline from the garden equipment fell on them during the struggle and was ignited by the marijuana joint.
In convicting Cadore, the judge noted that there were some inconsistencies with the victim’s evidence, raised by Tota-Maharaj, Justice Murray-Bailey ruled that her evidence was credible.
She also ruled that Cadore’s claims over what transpired were highly implausible.
In deciding on the appropriate sentence for Cadore, Justice Murray-Bailey began with a starting point of 19 years in prison.
She then gave a three year discount based on the mitigating factors raised by Tota-Maharaj.
In passing the sentence, she noted that it should serve as a deterrent against domestic violence.
“Intimate partner violence is prevalent in our society, and not only are the incidents becoming more frequent, but the brazen nature of these attacks has also increased,” she said.
“The act by this Prisoner of “bathing down” a pregnant woman with a gasoline mixture and lighting her on fire must be punished.”
Cadore is expected to be released after serving a little over 15 years in prison as the 165 days he spent on remand before accessing bail was deducted from his sentence.