Machine operator gets eight years on manslaughter charge

Fifty-year-old Deonarine Seetaram, also known as “Jericho,” from Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, was sentenced to eight years in prison by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry for manslaughter on Monday.

Seetaram, a machine operator, originally facing a murder charge last month, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter for the 2019 stabbing of his drinking partner, Mohammed Shameem Hassan, with scissors during a gathering at his home.

Represented by attorney Teriq Mohammed, with Caressa Henry and Alvaro Ramotar prosecuting, Seetaram’s sentence will account for the time already spent in custody.

The altercation arose after a dispute escalated between Seetaram and Hassan, leading Seetaram to fatally wound Hassan with a pair of scissors in a moment of anger, as recounted in Seetaram’s caution statement to the police.

According to the statement, the incident occurred after Hassan provocatively threatened Seetaram, prompting him to act in a fit of rage.

Hassan, who had returned to Guyana from Venezuela in March 2018 after living abroad for 25 years, succumbed to a heart perforation caused by the stab wound.