Derek Achong
Two men, who admitted to the murder of the sister of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, are expected to be released from prison in a little over a year.
Anthony Sankar and Marcus "Ghost" Gresham were sentenced by High Court Judge Devan Rampersad in the San Fernando High Court, yesterday, after being allowed to plead guilty to felony murder.
Under the felony murder rule, the mandatory death penalty for murder is waived in circumstances where death results in the commission of a lesser criminal offence, which in most cases is robbery.
Gaspard's sister Joanne died during a home invasion on November 13, 2008.
According to the amended summary of agreed facts presented before their sentencing, she was at her three-story Vistabella home with her two young children when two men attempted to break into the house through the roof.
Her next-door neighbour claimed he heard her screams for help and when he looked outside he saw her "burst through" her bedroom door, which was located at the back of the house.
"She put her foot over the bannister and a short while later fell over onto the concrete ground below," the document stated.
She was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
A subsequent autopsy found that she died of multiple internal injuries consistent with a fall.
When he was arrested by police, Sankar allegedly claimed that he agreed to act as a lookout while Gresham broke into the house.
He claimed that he stayed outside and ran away upon hearing Gaspard's screams.
Gresham denied any wrongdoing when he was arrested as he claimed that he was gambling in a casino at the time.
He was charged after a DNA testing was done on a baseball cap that was found in the hole in Gaspard's ceiling.
Sankar and Gresham's attorneys entered into plea discussions with the DPP's Office for them to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. However, the proposal was reportedly rejected with the DPP's Office instead accepting a guilty plea for felony murder.
In deciding on the appropriate sentences for the men, Justice Rampersad began with a starting point of 24 years.
He applied a one-year deduction for Sankar before applying a one-third discount based on their guilty pleas.
After deducting the time they spent on remand awaiting trial, Sankar remained with one year and 30 days left to serve. Gresham has one year and nine months to serve before he is eventually released.
Sankar was represented by Chase Pegus and Aaron Mahabir, while John Heath represented Gresham. Josanne Forrester represented the DPP's Office.
