……..”One more year in jail after guilty plea”
By FRANCIS JOSEPH
A man who killed his brother who was attacking their mother, was sentenced to ten years in prison on the lesser count of manslaughter.
But after the calculations for his guilty plea, Avalon Thompson could be out of prison within the next year.
Thompson, of Lachoos Road, Penal, was originally charged with murder. He was accused of killing of his brother, Paul Mark Teeluck in 2017. However, under a plea arrangement with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), he was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter on the basis of provocation.
In delivering her ruling, Madame Justice Tricia Hudlin-Cooper adopted a 20-year benchmark for the manslaughter offence, as outlined in the plea deal. That term was reduced after Justice Hudlin-Cooper applied a one-third discount for Thompson’s guilty plea, along with further consideration of mitigating factors, including his remorse and the forgiveness expressed by family members, including his mother.
Thompson is expected to serve just over one more year in prison, having already been credited for time spent in custody before entering his plea.
According to the agreed facts, Teeluck returned home intoxicated and became involved in a dispute with their 71-year-old mother, Dhanrajayia Thompson on August 15, 2017. During the altercation, he restrained her and verbally abused her.
Thompson initially stayed out of the dispute and went outside, but later intervened after tensions escalated. He later told the police that he had cautioned his brother about their mother’s fragile health, noting that she had recently suffered a stroke and was diabetic, but was met with threats.
The situation worsened when Teeluck began shaking their mother shortly after she returned from a nearby shop.
It was then that Thompson armed himself with a cutlass and attacked his brother. He was chopped several times. Their mother was injured during the struggle as she tried to separate the men.
Emergency services were contacted, but Teeluck succumbed to his injuries. Thompson was later arrested and charged with murder.
