Court reduces 70 -year jail time for convict who brutally stabbed man in 2003

Rajesh Guyadeen, who was sentenced to 70 years imprisonment for the brutal murder of a farmer during a row over a punctured bicycle wheel, had his sentence reduced to 22 years on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the initial sentence was excessive.

In 2018, Guyadeen called “Brucksman” was sentenced by Justice Navindra Singh in the Georgetown High Court, after he was found guilty by a 12-member jury of the murder of 37-year-old farmer Nandram Manouar, called “Nanu”, which occurred on May 4, 2003.

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the High Court, Guyadeen, with the aid of his attorney, mounted an appeal against his conviction and sentence, claiming several errors in law were made by the trial judge, including imposing an excessive sentence.

The appeal was heard by Chancellor (ag), Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal, Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud at the Court of Appeal. The State was represented by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Teshana James-Lake.

The Appeal Court affirmed Guyadeen’s conviction but reduced his sentence to 22 years. Time in pre-trial custody will be deducted from his sentence. It is alleged that Guyadeen stabbed Manouar in his chest shortly after he left a wedding house at Unity, East Coast Demerara.
Manouar had accused Guyadeen of puncturing his bicycle wheel.

He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation but died before receiving treatment.

Guyadeen subsequently fled the jurisdiction and was reportedly hiding out in Suriname. He was arrested in 2014 after returning to Guyana.