A young man who accidentally killed his father a decade ago apologised to his relatives before a High Court judge imposed a suspended sentence in what he described as a “sad” and “unfortunate” case.
“I just want to take the time to apologise to both sides of my family, both my father’s side and my mother’s side, for what . . . took place. I would have done everything to see my father alive, for him to see the young man I have grown into,” an emotional Renaldo Makhail Trotman said in the No. 3 Supreme Court on Friday.
The Greenpark Lane, St Michael resident had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the March 23, 2012 death of 55-year-old Sylvan Trotman.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alliston Seale disclosed that the deceased was a farmer who employed three people, including Renaldo and another son, Dwayne Pinder.
On the day of the incident, the two argued when the now convicted man went to ask for either a ride or to borrow his father’s car to go to a dental appointment.
On hearing the commotion, Pinder, knowing of the acrimonious relationship between the two, left the field to intervene and quell the dispute.
During the argument, the older Trotman attempted to kick Renaldo but Pinder intervened and got the blow intended for his brother.
The father then mentioned something about Renaldo’s mother which caused him to go up to his father and dare him to speak about his mother again.
The prosecutor said the man replied by calling the mother’s name again and saying she “is a successful failure”. Renaldo then slapped his father across the face, causing him to fall from the step on which he was standing and onto the garage floor. The man’s forehead then began to bleed.
Renaldo immediately went to his father’s assistance. He and his brother then transported him to Six Roads, St Philip for medical attention but after they were unsuccessful, they drove to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he died.
A post-mortem concluded his father’s death was due to a fall resulting in brain and spinal injury.
“This is indeed a sad case, an unfortunate one as well,” Justice Carlisle Greaves said as he dealt with the matter.
“It is [such] when by his or her actions, a child causes the death of his or her parents or a parent causes the death of his or her child. It is a nightmare. It is my opinion that in this jurisdiction, we have to bring some justice to our culture. I think every man and woman in this jurisdiction knows very well that . . . one of two things that will cause a physical or verbal reaction – in fact, would cause a fight – is insulting one’s mother or sister.
“We are raised in a culture where we can say virtually anything about a person’s father but not his or her mother or sister. These things probably came over from the days of slavery . . . . Unfortunately, it continued to fashion our society even today. These breed resentment, disrespect for menfolk.
“I am not attributing blame to any parent in this case or making any accusation . . . but looking at the pre-sentencing report, the [convicted] man was raised by a single mother . . . ,” the judge said.
However, he made it clear that a child should never raise his or her hands against a parent.
“Regardless of how you may feel about your parents . . . you respect them. You walk away even when they aggravate you and the simple reason for that is they brought you here. So, even if you think they are the most despicable . . . you will raise not your hand against a parent, regardless of the aggravation.
Making reference to the particulars of the case, Justice Greaves said that the manslaughter indictment was the right one in this case as the convicted man did not have a specific intent to kill nor to cause serious injury.
“This is a case of a slap, which should not have occurred but did occur. I know of nobody, and I have not seen any case, in which somebody slaps somebody with the intent to kill or to cause serious injury.
“That puts this case in the lower realms of sentencing. I think the accused man will regret for the rest of his life that he had the audacity to slap his father,” the judge added.
He then adopted the submissions of the Deputy DPP who asked for a starting sentence of six years in prison to be imposed, from which the convicted man should be credited with, among other things, a one-third discount for his guilty plea, the 180 days he had spent on remand, and the delay in hearing his case.
The judge also accepted the mitigation of the defence, in which King’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim described the case as “extremely unfortunate” and submitted that a suspended sentence “may be an appropriate remedy”.
In the end, Trotman was given an 18-month sentence which was suspended for 18 months after all the deductions were made.
