Vieille Case man imprisoned for 7 years for wounding cousin

23-year-old Mandel Joseph Cyrille of Vieille Case will spend the next 7 years as an inmate at the Dominica State Prison and will also pay compensation to his cousin Kevin George following his conviction of Grevious Bodily Harm (GBH) against George.

The incident occurred in 2018.

Cyrille, who was indicted on two charges, GBH with Intent and Unlawful Wounding, pleaded not guilty to both offenses.

As a result of his not guilty plea, a trial commenced on May 10, 2021, with the selection of the jury and concluded on June 4, when the all-female nine-member jury handed down a unanimous guilty verdict for the more serious offense of GBH with Intent.

During the trial, acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sherma Dalrymple, assisted by State Attorney Daina Matthew, called five witnesses including a medical expert and police investigator to make the case against Cyrille. Counsel Wayne Norde conducted the defense.

The first witness to take the stand was the Virtual Complainant (VC), on May 11.

George, 42, told the court he has lived all his life around Cyrille at a hamlet off Vieille Case called Tobino. He said it was Saturday, February 10, 2018, when he had gone to the village to buy a top-up for his mother and himself. On returning home that night, a generator behind his uncle’s house was providing light where he saw Cyrille.

“He was about three yards away from me. I saw his face. He was coming down towards me, and passing me, he slashed me at the back of my head,” George recollected.

He continued: “I say to him, ‘Carnival just open, everybody wants to enjoy themselves.’ He said: ‘so long I marking you. I want to kill you.’ I left him and I run to Auntie Jean’s home… I felt a lick of the sabre cutlass on my right arm.”

George said whilst on the veranda Cyrille continued his attack with the cutlass.

“I took my Auntie Jean’s chair to block the cutlass. The tip of the cutlass slashed me on my right hand. Auntie Jean came and said, ‘Mandel, that you doing my nephew.’ I rush on him.”

The victim said at that moment, the tam which Cyrille used to conceal his identity fell.

“I could see his two eyes, white. When I saw him on the road he was not wearing a tam… the accused grabbed the tam and he ran,” George stated.

George said he was then nursed by his aunt and later transported to the Portsmouth Hospital, then taken to Roseau. Later he found himself on the men’s ward. His hands and head were bandaged with a cast on his left hand, and he had drips attached to his foot and hands.

He informed the court that because of the incident, he could no longer carry out his construction duties.

Jean Massicott said she was in her bedroom about 7:30 p.m that night when she witnessed the attack.

“While sitting on my bed in my room, I heard two people running. I heard somebody shout Jean… I went in my bathroom and looked out the window… I saw somebody hitting somebody with a cutlass, and I hear the person saying, ‘long time I have that for you! Long time I have that for you.’ I heard the other person saying, ‘what I do all you, all you hate me so much!’ It was Kevin’s voice. I kept on staring. I was still hearing the lashes. I heard a lash. I felt it. The person bawl and I pee-pee on me… when I watch I say Mandel you that doing Kevin that… He turned and watched me in the window and he ran.”

Lawrence George, the uncle of George’s mother, told the court that it was some time about 8:00 p.m when somebody called him and he went to the home of Massicott.

He said upon arrival he saw George sitting on a chair on the veranda and his hand hanging and he also observed a cut to his head. Lawrence said he then went on the road and stopped a passing vehicle which transported them to the Portsmouth Hospital.

Dr. Julian D’Armas, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon took the witness stand on May 28.

The doctor recalled that he was on call on February 11, 2018, when he received a call from a junior doctor about a patient with multiple lacerations to the head and wrist. On arrival at the hospital, he found that some of the wounds had been sutured by the emergency doctors.

Dr. D’Armas said there was one fracture to a wrist that he had to repair in the operating theatre from 12:05 pm to 3:10 pm. He added that the injuries could have been caused by a very sharp instrument like a cutlass or big knife and the patient could be fully recovered in one year with the wrist up to 80% operational.

After the doctor’s evidence, the case was not heard again until  May 25 because the accused became ill.

Constable Cade Shillingford was the next witness to take the witness stand.

The Investigating Officer said at the time of the incident, he was attached to the Vieille Case Police Station when the report of the wounding came in. He went to the Portsmouth Hospital where he met with and had a conversation with Corporal Mervin Adams. Shillingford and Sergeant Julian Baptiste next entered the casualty section and saw George lying on a bed. “His head was heavily bandaged as well as both arms from wrist to elbow.”

Shillingford said he next met with George on February 11, about 2:00 p.m when he had a conversation with him and medical personnel. The officer later preferred a charge against Cyrille.

When the state closed its case, it was Cyrille’s turn to present his defense to the court during which time he denied any involvement in the incident.

He said on the evening in question, he was in Thibaud.

Cyrille called Valentine Joseph, the man who drove the virtual complainant to Portsmouth as his witness. Joseph’s evidence in part was that on his way home before 7:00 p.m he passed Cyrille at the Thibaud bus stop.

Before handing down her sentence, Justice Wynante Adrien-Roberts had ordered a social inquiry report.

The maximum penalty for the offense of GBH with Intent is 10 years imprisonment.

On the day of sentencing, July 30, Justice Adrien-Roberts categorised the offense as “high” and gave a starting point of six years in prison. Her reason,  Cyrille’s action was premeditated based on his statement to the VC, “so long I want to kill you.”

She said the fact that the victim needed surgical attention following the incident and the doctor’s report that George will never fully recover from the injuries, led to her decision.

In adjusting the sentence, an additional year was added for the aggravating factors which, according to the Judge are that the offense was partially committed on the verandah of a relative, that during the commission of the offense, Cyrille tried to conceal his identity, and the weapon used.

An additional three months was added due to the lack of remorse shown by Cyrille as he has maintained his innocence. However, that was removed as Justice Adrien-Roberts gave credit to him for having no previous conviction.

The sentence then stood at 7 years in prison and Cyrille was also ordered to pay $5000.00 compensation to George for damages.

After the sentence was handed down, the attorney for the convict, Wayne Norde, asked the court to consider a suspended jail sentence as he stated, Cyrille is the sole caretaker of his 8-month old baby.

However, Justice Adrien-Roberts told the attorney that based on the charge, she could not impose such a sentence as she was guided by the sentencing guidelines and the gravity of the offense.