Mentally-ill man gets 18 years for wounding two in deadly Charlestown rampage

William Light
William Light

William Light, the man who in 2014 was sentenced to 47 years behind bars for killing two people he chopped during a rampage on Russell Street, Charlestown, in 2010, was yesterday sentenced to 18 years in total for the wounding of two persons during the attack.

Justice Brassington Reynolds, however, ordered that the new sentences be served concurrently with the sentences imposed for the two killings.

Light accepted that on October 26th, 2010, he wounded Sean DeSouza, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm; or to maim, disfigure or disable him.

Light also accepted guilt for maliciously wounding Rajesh Persaud, who was also injured during the onslaught.

He was sentenced to 13 years for the attack on DeSouza and five years for wounding Persaud.

In 2014, Light had pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter for the deaths of Cedric Blackman and Ann Cham-A-Koon, whom he killed in the rampage. A probation report presented at that time had stated that Light was a victim of mental illness and had been incarcerated several times in the psychiatric ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Light, who was unrepresented at yesterday’s hearing, told Justice Reynolds that he still suffers from mental illness. As a result, the judge ordered that the man continues to be taken by prison officials for his regular medical check-ups.