23 years jail for ‘Short Man’ who killed Firefighter

Errol Williams known as ‘Short Man’ was on Wednesday sentenced to 23 years imprisonment by Justice James Bovell-Drakes at the High Court in Georgetown for the offense of manslaughter.

Williams, 34, had pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter over a gang killing which resulted in the death of Fireman, Patrick Daly on September 15, 2009, at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara.

Attorney-at-Law Maxwell McKay represented Williams, while Attorneys-at-Law Mandel Moore and Orinthia Schmidt presented the State’s case. Williams was sentenced to 60 years jail by Justice Bovell Drakes but the Judge deducted 30 years –the age at which the victim died and another seven years for the early guilty plea.

Prosecutor Moore said that around 05:00hrs on the day in question, Daly was in a toilet located in his yard at Lot 99 Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara when he was attacked by Williams and two other men.

Moore said that Williams and the other men, who all lived in the same yard, were armed with cutlasses and other weapons; he said they wrenched open the door to the toilet and Daly ran out but was pursued by Williams and the others. The Prosecutor added that Williams dealt Daly several chops about the body before making good his escape. Williams was subsequently arrested in June 2015.

A post-mortem examination performed on the remains of Daly revealed that he died from hemorrhage and shock due to multiple chop wounds.

It was reported that Daly and the men had a misunderstanding prior to the killing. In 2013 another man, Kurleigh Goodluck, was acquitted of Daly’s murder after the jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict.