56 years jail for Mahaica man who murdered neighbour

A 50-year-old Mahaica, East Coast Demerara man, was on Thursday sentenced to 56 years imprisonment, with the possibility of parole after serving 28 years, for the murder of his neighbour in 2017.

Foster Gravesande was sentenced by the trial judge, Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court; last month, a 12-member jury found Gravesande guilty of the charge, which read that on April 09, 2017, he murdered 49-year-old Courtney Porter.

Gravesande was represented by attorney-at-law, Dexter Todd, while the State was represented by prosecutor Teriq Mohammed. In court on Thursday, Gravesande begged for mercy, and he expressed his willingness to offer financial support to the victim’s family.

“Sir, I’m not a bad person. What you see here, this is just me. The only thing about me is that I love women,” he told the court.

Prosecutor Mohammed labelled the case as “the senseless killing of one friend by another,” as he explained that both parties knew each other.

The judge, in sentencing, said that he found no mitigating factors because, in his view, Gravesande showed no remorse that the victim died due to his actions.

According to reports, on May 25, 2017, Porter was reportedly beaten to the head with a piece of wood by Gravesande, who had accused him of pulling his wife’s clothes.

Porter was hospitalised, while Gravesande was charged with attempt to commit murder and released on bail; however, on May 25, 2017, Porter succumbed to his injures and Gravesande was charged with murder.