FEB 07

A High Court Judge in Grenada on Wednesday handed down a seven year jail sentence on murder convict Peter Duncan for the February 2002 killing of Carriacou school teacher, Christopher Charles.

Justice Kenneth Benjamin passed judgement on the accused who was found guilty of murder last December at the conclusion of the October criminal assizes.
Duncan, 33, is said to have stabbed Charles four times about his body, during an altercation inside a shop in down town Hillsborough.

The court was told by a medical doctor that the deceased had sustained a stab wound in the area of the chest which punctured his heart and as a result he succumbed to his injuries.

The court was also asked to believe that the instrument used to commit the offense was sharp and was in the possession of Duncan. Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Christopher Nelson during the trial called seven witnesses which included two medical doctors, Abubaka Mohammed and Professor Lazor Vigoa.

During the trial, Duncan gave sworn testimony to the court in which he claimed that the deceased had something in his hand swinging at him and that they both had a scuffle which ended in the two of them falling to the ground.

Duncan was represented by four criminal defense lawyers including senior Queen's Counsel Karl Hudson-Phillips of Trinidad and Tobago, and Rohan Phillip of Henry Hudson Phillip & Co, and Derek Sylvester and Peter David of Ciboney Chambers.

It was the theory of the defense that the accused was provoked, acted in self defense and that the deceased met his death by an accident. The defense further contended that death could have resulted from something which the deceased had in his possession while engaged in the scuffle.

Following Duncan's conviction, the mother of the deceased Beverly Charles had told GRENADA TODAY that she was satisfied with the outcome as justice was served in the case.

She also said then that she will not like to seek the death penalty against Duncan since she had forgiven him and also asked God to do the same. The deceased, a teacher at the Hillsborough Secondary School, was 21 years old at the time of his death.