Roopchan Taylor, who confessed to fatally punching 66-year-old taxi driver, Aaron Damdar, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
The sentencing was handed down by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Georgetown High Court on Wednesday.
Taylor, 30, formerly of Ogle, East Coast Demerara, had initially faced a charge of murder. However, last month, he decided to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
As per the agreed facts of the case, on October 20, 2019, near Ogle Sideline Dam, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Damdar assaulted Taylor’s mother, who had entered his taxi while under the influence of alcohol.
The News Room understands that the taxi driver refused to transport the woman because she was under the influence and the two subsequently got into a fight.
Taylor then responded to his mother’s cries for help during which he and Damdar ended up in an argument.
During the argument, Taylor punched Damdar to the face and the elderly man collapsed.
Following the altercation, Damdar was hospitalised but succumbed to his injuries a few days later.
According to the post-mortem report, Damdar’s cause of death was brain injury caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
During his address to the court on Wednesday, Taylor apologised to the victim’s family and begged for their forgiveness.
“I’m very sorry for what happened. I was just trying to save my mother. I apologise,” Taylor said.
Given Taylor’s early plea and the nature of the case, he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
The judge ordered the prison service to deduct the time he spent in pretrial custody from the sentence.
Taylor was represented by attorney-at-law Teriq Mohammed, while Praneeta Seeraj represented the State.
