Dwayne Thomas has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for manslaughter in the killing of 28-year-old Brian Pitman, also known as “DJ Viper.”
The sentence was imposed on Wednesday by Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Demerara and will be reduced by the time Thomas has already spent on remand.
In calculating the sentence, Justice Singh adopted a starting point of 20 years’ imprisonment.
He then deducted six and two-thirds years for Thomas’s early guilty plea and four years for favourable probation and prison reports.
A further two and one-third years were deducted for demonstrated remorse, along with two years for Thomas’s youthfulness and the circumstances surrounding the offence.
The total deductions amounted to 15 years, resulting in the final sentence of five years’ imprisonment.
Thomas had pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, having initially been indicted for murder.
The plea was entered before Justice Singh on the basis of an agreed statement of facts presented to the court. Thomas was 20 years old at the time of the incident.
According to those facts, on January 8, 2023, Pitman attended a birthday party at a family member’s home in Laluni, along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
At around 8:00 p.m., Thomas and a group of men on motorbikes were on the road outside the event when they began attacking Omar Bacchus, Pitman’s father-in-law.
Pitman reportedly ran to assist Bacchus, armed with a piece of wood, but was confronted by Thomas and two other men, all carrying sharp objects.
Pitman fell to the ground, after which the trio began chopping him about the body.
He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem examination later revealed that Pitman sustained four incised wounds caused by a sharp, heavy instrument applied with significant force.
The cause of death was listed as haemorrhage and shock due to multiple incised wounds.
The prosecution was conducted by State Counsel Simran Gajraj, State Counsel Christopher Belfield, and State Counsel Geneva Wills.
Thomas was represented by attorney-at-law Madan Kissoon.
