Neesa Gopaul’s mother recalled to prison after released before time

Bibi Gopaul, the woman who was found guilty of murdering her daughter Neesa Gopaul, was on Thursday recalled to prison after the Guyana Prison Service released her before the end of her sentence.

See below the full statement issued by the Guyana Prison Service:

Today the Guyana Prison Service has issued a directive to recall convicted murderer Bibi Gopaul to prison to complete serving her lawful sentence imposed by the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Bibi Gopaul, who was ordered to serve a 25-year prison term for the murder of her daughter, was recently released from Prison as a result of an incorrect calculation of her prison term.

The CCJ in their judgement had ordered that Prisoner Gopaul was to serve 25 years from the date of the conviction. The sentence in the words of the CCJ is as follows:

“In all of the circumstances… a just and proportionate sentence is 30 years imprisonment with no eligibility for parole before the expiration of 15 years. From this sentence, the period of 5 years will be deducted for time spent in custody while on remand, with the practical consequences that from the date of conviction in 2015, Gopaul will spend a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Unfortunately, and in error, the Prison Officials reckoned the sentence to run from the date Gopaul was first remanded which was the 10th of October 2010, and not the 5th of March 2015 which was the date of conviction and on which sentence was imposed. From the clear language of the order of the CCJ, the sentence should have been reckoned to start to run from the 5th March 2015.