Double killer's sentencing postponed after incomplete mental assessment

A Barbadian man who confessed to two separate killings must wait longer for his punishment because a required psychology review has not been finished.

Double killer's sentencing postponed after incomplete mental assessment

A man convicted of two fatal attacks will face a later date to receive his punishment after officials said a required mental-health review is still unfinished.

The defendant, Demetrico Ricardo Layne from Graham’s Alley in the capital’s Nelson Street area, had already acknowledged responsibility for ending the lives of Olivia Cecelia Carter in late July 2020 and Odith Nicole Henriques in early August 2021. When proceedings resumed in the No. 4 Supreme Court under Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell, both the Crown and the accused’s representative were ready to argue for an appropriate penalty. Crown counsel Paul Prescod and defender Leslie Cargill-Straker appeared for the hearing.

Although documents from psychiatrists and probation officers were already filed, the bench was told that a separate psychology examination had not been concluded. Cargill-Straker stressed that the psychiatric paperwork was already voluminous, yet her client still needed to undergo sessions with a psychologist before the court could proceed. She sought a deferment to allow that process to finish.

The hearing will now pick up again on 25 September.

Carter had been located without life on the property of the disused Lauriston structure at Collymore Rock on 27 July 2020. Henriques, aged 44 and originally from Jamaica, was spotted without clothing in the outdoor area of a vacant Graham’s Alley property in the City on 2 August 2021.

Source: Barbados Today

Source: Google News BB — Crime