10 years jail for man who killed taxi driver during robbery

Twenty-three-year-old Shawn Collins was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on Tuesday after he confessed to the murder of taxi-driver, Raphael Campbell, who died during a robbery in 2014.

Collins was charged with the capital offence of murder but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter when he appeared before Justice Navindra Singh at the Georgetown High Court.

He admitted that between January 2 and January 3, 2014, at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, he unlawfully killed Campbell. Collins was charged jointly with Shawn Edinboro and Michael Bishop for Campbell’s murder. A date is yet to be set for Edinboro and Bishop’s hearing.

According to reports, on January 2, 2014, Campbell picked up Edinboro, Bishop and Collins on Camp Street and took them to Liliendaal, where he was badly beaten, stabbed and shot in the head.

The men stole Campbell’s vehicle and his battered body was found on January 3, 2014.

Police subsequently launched an investigation and the trio was stopped at a roadblock on the Soesdyke/Linden highway in the stolen vehicle.

State Prosecutor, Tyra Bakker asked the court to consider that this was a senseless and cowardly act since Campbell was attacked while he was simply doing his job. She also contended that Campbell left behind a family that still mourns his death.

Bakker also asked the court to let the sentence reflect the nature and gravity of the crime.

Justice Singh, after considering Collins’ early plea, sentenced him to serve 10 years imprisonment. The judge further ordered that the prison authorities deduct from the sentence the time the Collins spent in pre-trial custody from the time of his arrest in 2014.