A 12-year jail sentence was yesterday handed down to a man who was accused of using a cutlass to kill another man in the North West over five years ago.
Mark Creame stood in the courtroom of Justice Navindra Singh, accused of murder but took the earliest opportunity to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was represented by attorney Mark Conway, while the state’s case was presented by prosecutors Teriq Mohamed, Tuanna Hardy and Abigail Gibbs.
The charge against Creame stated that on December 1, 2013, at 8 Miles in the North West District, he murdered Terrence Henry. At the beginning of the case, Creame opted to plead guilty to manslaughter.
Conway, in a plea for mitigation, told the court that his client has been attending church services while imprisoned, and has been attending tailoring courses.
Subsequently, Justice Singh told the accused that he should stay away from alcohol since, at the time of the offence, he was under the influence. Creame heard that alcohol is the main problem in the interior and was urged by the judge to use his time in prison to be rehabilitated.
The accused was then sentenced to 12 years in jail. Justice Singh also ordered that prison authorities deduct the time Creame would have already spent in pretrial custody, from his sentence.
Facts surrounding the matter indicate that on the day in question, Creame observed Henry at 8 Miles where he was consuming alcohol and confronted him because of a previous incident. Henry later proceeded to his hammock at a camp in the area, when the accused who was armed with a cutlass, approached him and dealt him several chops about his body, which resulted in his death.
