Manslaughter convict to reappear before the Court of Appeal in June

Manslayer Terry Cassius Seale who was sentenced to 18 years in prison back in December 2018 for killing former lover Moreta Forde is seeking to challenge his sentence before the Court of Appeal.

But the tractor operator’s appeal case did not make it to the case management stage when it was called before the judicial panel of Justices Francis Belle, Jefferson Cumberbatch and Margaret Reifer.

When Seale appeared before the court during a virtual sitting Tuesday morning he informed the Appeal Judges that he was being represented by attorney-at-law Dennis Headley.

Headley then explained that a legal aid certificate that had been issued to him had been withdrawn.

Both Seale, of 27 Groves Crescent, St George and his attorney told the court that they had not communicated for some time. Headley also admitted that he had made several attempts to get legal documents from the court on his client’s case. It was later revealed that the appellant had the document.

Given the development, Justice Belle gave the appellant and the attorney 14 days to return to the court at which time it should be decided whether Headley is Seale’s legal representative. The Court will then take it from there.

The case is expected to come before the Court of Appeal judges on June 8.

When Madam Justice Jacqueline Cornelius sentenced Seale in 2018 she described Forde’s death as “the most serious” of manslaughter cases.

Seale, who is in his late 50s, had been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of the former Cable and Wireless worker. Forde was killed between October 30 and 31, 2014.

While the maximum penalty for manslaughter is life in prison, Justice Cornelius said she believed a starting point of 25 years was reasonable and added a further two years oweing to the aggravating factors.  At the time of sentencing, Seale had already spent 1,776 days on remand, which meant he had a further 4,794 days remaining on his sentence.

The judge gave Seale a one-third discount for his guilty plea, bringing the sentence down to 18 years at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds.