Georgetown: An emotional 25-year-old Hofosawa Awena Rutherford was on Monday sentenced to 98 years’ imprisonment by Justice Navindra Singh in the Demerara High Court.
Last month a 12-member jury found her guilty on both counts of manslaughter for the March 27, 2014 ‘rat poison’ killing of her two small children at Branch Road, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara.
In handing down his sentence, Justice Singh told the court he could not understand why Rutherford was indicted for manslaughter while the evidence clearly pointed to murder which would have been a double conviction.
He added that in her address to the court before sentence was passed, the accused showed genuine remorse and he was pleased that she had finally accepted what she had done.
For the first count, Justice Singh started at a base of 30 years to which he added 10 years because the victims were children; five more years were added since the victims were the accused’s own children; five years added for the use of poison in the killing; 10 years added for premeditation; eight years were deducted for the favourable probation report and seven years deducted for remorse shown; bringing the total to 45 years in jail for the first count.
On the second count – the judge sentenced Rutherford to 53 years imprisonment from which time served while on remand will be deducted by the Guyana Prison Service. The 98-year sentence will run consecutively.
A barely audible and weeping Rutherford said she loved her children and was truly saddened by what had happened and the pain she had caused her family. She told the court that she was not perfect since she had a lot of shortcomings. She then broke down in tears and begged Justice Singh to have mercy in his sentencing.
In his plea of mitigation, defence attorney Adrian Thompson told the court that the accused was only 25 years old and asked the court to be cognisant of the probation report which highlighted the hard life of the accused.
He added that at age 16 she dropped out of school pregnant and her mother died after which she grew up with her grandparents and only knew her father when she was of age.
Thompson asked the court to also take into consideration her upbringing which was not ideal and the fact she has some health issues, including mental health and even though justice must be served, he asked for mercy in the sentencing.
In spite of these challenges, however, Thompson said that Rutherford forged ahead and had been in the process of seeking employment with the Guyana Police Force.
In response, state prosecutor Abigail Gibbs told the court that considering the prisoner was still grieving, she hadn’t given her children the luxury of life.
She added that one-year-old Jabari Cadogan and four-year-old Odasia Cadogan died from pesticide poisoning and she was aware that it was not for human consumption, adding that struggles and hardship in life can never be justification for taking the lives of her own children. Gibbs told the court that her role was to be their mother, to love and care for them but she failed them and asked the court to impose the maximum sentence.
However, the probation report was marked and tendered in the process after it was presented to the court by Probation and Social Services Officer Joanne Samuels.
Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh gave the cause of death as pesticide poisoning by carbon tablets (rat poison) also called aluminium sulphate.
The state’s case was led by Prosecutor Tiffini Lyken in association with Shawnette Austin and Abigail Gibbs.
According to counsel, the woman had not only been beset by financial difficulties but she had also not been in the best of health “mentally.”
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