Parika farm hand gets 20 years for manslaughter

The High Court trial of Patrick Anthony Balgobin has ended, with a jury finding him guilty of the unlawful killing of 73-year-old, St Lawrence, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) farmer, Rudolph Moonsammy.

Dead: Rudolph Moonsammy

Balgobin was initially charged with murder, but following hours of deliberation by a mixed 12-member Jury, yesterday, he was found guilty of the lesser count of manslaughter.
The incident allegedly took place in June 2010 at Lot 3, St. Lawrence, EBE. The court heard that Balgobin had attacked and beaten the elderly farmer to death after they had a disagreement.
The man had hired Balgobin to work as a labourer on his farm. The victim was reportedly found unconscious in a room, sometime after he sustained the beating.
When he was given a chance to respond to the verdict, yesterday, Balgobin told the court that he was sorry for everything.  Attorney Maxwell McKay asked the court for leniency on his behalf.
Justice Joann Barlow afterwards, imposed a 20-year jail sentence on Balgobin. The judge had initially handed down a 25-year jail sentence, but she deducted five years for the time the man had spent in prison awaiting his trial.
Before he could be led away to prison, the Judge advised Balgobin to use his time behind bars wisely, to better himself for the good of society.  In her opening address State Prosecutor, Tuanna Hardy, had related that the two men had a quarrel when the accused followed the victim and dealt him a lash, with a piece of wood. She said that the wood broke, but Balgobin took up a cutlass and chopped the man about his body.
Hardy presented the case in association with State Counsel, Diana Kaulesar. According to reports, Balgobin had attacked the farmer after he attempted to reprimand him for verbally abusing his (Balgobin’s) wife and attacking a co-worker.
An allegedly intoxicated Balgobin is said to have attacked Moonsammy battering him in the head and chopping him. Residents later found the elderly man unconscious in his bedroom.
Moonsammy was then rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital. He was thereafter transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, (GPHC) where he died three days later.