Full Court overturns sentence for mother of 6 who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charge
The Full Court on Friday overturned the sentence of a mother of six, who had pleaded guilty to trafficking 848 grams of cannabis in 2019.
37-year-old Valensia Carmichael of Heatburn, East Bank Berbice, was on April 18, 2019, sentenced to three years imprisonment after pleading guilty to trafficking 848 grams of cannabis.
It was reported that the narcotics were found in a barrel in a house that Carmichael and 10 other persons were in.
Shortly after the sentence, Attorney-at-Law George Thomas filed an appeal, and Carmichael was released on bail.
Her lawyer, among other things, argued that the Magistrate erred in law in failing to consider the unambiguous and voluntariness of Carmichael’s plea.
He advanced that the sentence was excessive, and the Magistrate failed to adequately consider the woman’s case.
Thomas highlighted that the mother of six pleaded guilty because her children were in custody at the Police Station.
“The appellant pleaded guilty to an act and or statute and or relevant subsections that should not have secured a conviction for the alleged offence before the Learned Magistrate,” attorney Thomas argued.
In light of this, the Full Court comprising of Justices Brassington Reynolds and Sandil Kissoon, set aside the sentence.
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