Stories by Derek Achong
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A man from Penal, who admitted to helping torture and bury alive a neighbour when he was a teenager, has been released after spending almost two decades on remand.
Dillion Ramnath was released on a licence yesterday, as he was sentenced after pleading guilty to murder before High Court Judge Gail Gonzales.
Ramnath and two men were accused of murdering 26-year-old Toolsie Ramkissoon in July 2006. His co-accused did not plead guilty, and they are still awaiting trial for the crime. Ramkissoon, of Sou Sou Lands, Penal, went missing after attending a lime at his brother’s home at Penal Rock Road on July 2, 2006.
Almost three weeks later, his partially decomposed body was found buried in a shallow grave within walking distance of his brother’s home.
While an autopsy on his body could not determine his cause of death because of the stage of decomposition it was in, it (the autopsy) showed that he suffered multiple injuries, including broken limbs, before his death.
Ramnath was able to plead guilty to the crime as he would not face the mandatory death penalty for murder because he was 17 years old when he helped commit the crime.
Under the Children’s Act 1925, which applied at the time of Ramkissoon’s murder, minors convicted of murder are to be sentenced at the court’s pleasure for a minimum term. They can be released after completing the minimum term, provided a judge agrees they are fit to be released.
In deciding on the appropriate minimum term for Ramnath, Justice Gonzales began with a starting point of 30 years in prison.
The relatively high starting point was based on the gratuitous violence meted out to Ramkissoon and the fact that he was suspected to have been buried alive after a protracted beating.
Justice Gonzales then applied a three-year discount based on Ramnath’s participation in several rehabilitation programmes and his failure to commit any disciplinary infractions whilst on remand.
She also noted that he came from an impoverished family and did not attend school so he could do odd jobs to help support his family.
After giving Ramnath a one-third discount for his guilty plea, he was left with a minimum term of 18 years in prison.
Noting that Ramnath had already served the term while awaiting trial, Justice Gonzales conducted a sentence review and ruled that there would be no useful purpose for his continued detention. She also noted that he did not appear to be a danger to society.
In passing the sentence, Justice Gonzales warned Ramnath that based on his release on licence, he would be rearrested and incarcerated for a period determined by a judge if he committed any criminal offence after being released.
Ramnath was represented by Jason Jackson and Krysan Rambert. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was represented by Josanne Forrester.