“Smiley” moves to overturn 13-year jail sentence for attempted murder

"Smiley", who is currently serving 13 years for attempted murder, has moved to the Court of Appeal in a fight to have his conviction and sentence overturned.

Lewis, also known as “Smiley,” of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam Berbice, was sentenced by Justice Brassington Reynolds after he was unanimously found guilty of unlawfully and maliciously wounding Chris Burrowes with intent to murder him on January 1, 2013, at the Rainbow Bar in Charles Place, New Amsterdam.

Disappointed with his sentence, Lewis moved to the Appellate Court, arguing that the jail term was noticeably excessive and not in keeping with the established sentencing guidelines.

Reports are that the men were consuming alcoholic beverages on the day in question. Burrowes claimed that Lewis was smoking “something which was high-scented” and asked him to remove it from next to him.

Burrowes subsequently left the bar and walked some distance to urinate. He was in the process of zipping up his pants when Lewis removed a two-inch broad, plastic-handled knife from his left side pocket and quickly stabbed him on his right-side neck.

Burrowes was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and remained a patient for almost a month before he succumbed to his injury.