NINE men convicted of the brutal beheading of Thackoor Boodram, brother of drug kingpin Dole Chadee, in 2017, could see freedom soon, as they have been re-sentenced by a High Court judge.
On March 1, the nine appeared before Justice Geoffrey Henderson, and were given sentences ranging from 32-30 years for their roles in Boodram’s “grisly murder,” as described by the judge. Henderson pointed out that from the facts of the case, none of the nine killed Boodram, but were liable for the actions of their co-accused.
Boodram, a pig farmer, was kidnapped on December 20, 1997. His abductors demanded a ransom, but ten days later his head was found in a whisky box at the Caroni Cremation Site.
The nine – Michael “Rat” Maharaj, Samuel Maharaj, Damien “Tommy” Ramiah, Bobby Ramiah, Seenath “Farmer” Ramiah, Daniel “Fella” Gopaul, Richard Huggins, Leslie Huggins, and Mark “Bico” Jaikaran – returned to the High Court and appeared via a video link from the various prison locations where they were incarcerated.
They were each credited for the time they spent in custody and given a one-third remission for breaches of their constitutional rights because of the failure of the prison authorities to hold four-year reviews.
According to prison rules, authorities must do regular four-yearly reviews on prisoners serving life sentences to consider the possibility of their release.
All nine were arrested in March 1998, spent four and a half years on death row and 17 and a half as convicted prisoners.
The judge left the calculation of their sentences, which is to begin from the date of their convictions on August 7, 2022, to the prison authorities.
However, many of the men’s lawyers said based on their calculations, the men are likely “to walk” soon, and if not immediately, “within days.” They now intend to write to the prison authorities to have the remission applied so their clients can be released.
In February 2023, the Privy Council allowed the men's appeals against their life sentences and quashed them. They had initially been sentenced to death by hanging, but that sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
The London court further ordered that their resentencing should take place “expeditiously,” and advised the High Court to consider each man's case individually, taking into account the full range of sentences available.
In October 2021, the Privy Council dismissed the men’s appeal of their conviction. They had petitioned the Court of Appeal to reopen their case because of “new evidence” that emerged after they were found guilty of murdering Boodram.
That evidence was based on an alleged admission by the State’s star witness, Junior Grandison, who swore in a statutory declaration in 2011 that he had fabricated evidence against the group.
Grandison's evidence did not implicate a tenth man, Junior "Heads" Phillips, who was also convicted on the basis of evidence from another witness.
The London-based court agreed that the Court of Appeal carried out a proper and robust analysis of the appeal before dismi
