14 years jail for man who brutally chopped pregnant woman

Richard Mohammed was on Thursday sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for the brutal chopping of a pregnant woman in 2021.

Last month, Mohammed was scheduled to go on trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Essequibo High Court after pleading not guilty to the offence of attempted murder.

However, he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of felonious wounding and admitted to carrying out the brutal cutlass attack on the 23-year-old woman on March 25, 2021.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, State Counsel Tiffini Lyken told the court that on the day in question Mohammed, armed with a cutlass, attacked the victim; she lost her right hand and right eye.

A finger from her left hand was also severed and she received injuries to her head, back, and shoulder.

The young woman, who has five children from a previous relationship, was seven months pregnant when she was attacked by Mohammed.

The victim’s house was allegedly set on fire by Mohammed during the attack.

The prosecutor read the victim’s impact statement on Thursday during the sentencing hearing.

The court heard how the attack has left the victim physically scarred and disabled along with no stable home.

“He [Mohammed] left us with nothing…This is really hard on me. My children have to see their mother disable…I will never be the same,” the victim wrote in her impact statement.

According to the prosecutor, the victim said that her family has no fixed place of abode due to Mohammed setting her house on fire.

She is also unable to work and is being financially assisted by her family.

Mohammed’s attorney, George Thomas, asked the judge to impose the “minimum sentence” possible on his client, who he claimed can be rehabilitated.

Prosecutor Lyken asked the court to consider the nature of the offence and the injuries the victim received.

The Judge then sentenced Mohammed to 14 years imprisonment and ordered the prison authorities to deduct the time Mohammed spent in pretrial custody from the sentence.