After nearly a decade of legal proceedings, 57-year-old Jamal Bacchus of Caledonia, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was on June 17, 2025, sentenced to 27 years in prison for the 2015 stabbing death of minibus driver Dhanshana Ram.
The sentence was handed down by Justice Nareshwar Harnanan at the Demerara High Court following Bacchus’s conviction for manslaughter by a unanimous verdict from a 12-member jury on June 11.
Bacchus was originally charged with murder, but following a year-long Preliminary Inquiry, Magistrate Fabayo Azore in 2016 committed him to stand trial for the lesser offence of manslaughter based on the evidence presented.
The fatal incident occurred on February 4, 2015, near the Cheddi Jagan International Airport access road at Timehri.
According to police reports, Bacchus and the 43-year-old Ram became embroiled in a heated argument, during which Bacchus stabbed Ram multiple times. Ram later died at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
At sentencing, Justice Harnanan ruled that Bacchus will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years. The one year he spent in pre-trial custody will also be deducted from the overall sentence.
Bacchus was represented throughout the trial by defence attorneys Nigel Hughes and Kiswana Jefford. The prosecution was led by Attorneys-at-Law Praneta Seeraj, Abiola Lowe, and Mtumika Lumumba.
