While the Guyana Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed the life sentence imposed against Dhupaul Singh who back in 2016 had been convicted for murder, it reduced the 25 years he had been given before being eligible for parole, to 20 years instead.
The five-year deduction came after the appellate court found that the trial judge had not sufficiently considered the relevant guidelines for sentencing given all the circumstances of the case.
Acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who heard the matter along with Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud, said that while interfering with the judge’s discretion in sentencing is generally shunned, “where it is wrong in principle,” an appellate court would intervene.
