High Court upholds killer’s conviction and sentence

The Court of Appeal has affirmed the conviction and sentence of Andrew Harclyde Pollard for murdering his ex-girlfriend ten years ago.

The three-member panel of Justices Francis Belle, William Chandler and Margaret Reifer on Thursday dismissed Pollard’s appeal.

A jury had convicted Pollard of Mahaica Gap, Green Hill for killing 23-year-old Onicka Gulliver, formerly of 1st Avenue, Station Hill, sometime between March 11 and March 14, 2014.

The partially nude and decomposing body of the 23-year-old Guyanese national was found in the bushes at Vaucluse, St Thomas.

Attorney Sydney Pinder represented the appellant, while State Counsel Paul Prescod appeared for the State on behalf of Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC.

In February 2023, Justice Randall Worrell sentenced the convicted killer to 32 years but after several deductions, he now has over 20 years and four months more to spend behind bars.

After initially denying visiting Gulliver’s house on March 11, Pollard later admitted to police that he had picked her up. As he drove they got into an argument, and she began slapping him. He said he hit her in self-defence but realised afterwards that she was not breathing and left her body in “some bushes in St Thomas”.

A post-mortem showed Gulliver was strangled.