Judge cites self-defence elements in manslaughter sentence

A High Court judge has imposed a starting sentence of 12 years on Sean Christopher Inniss for unlawfully killing 73-year-old Shirley Rogers in 2018, after accepting that self-defence elements, lack of premeditation and the fact that he was initially unarmed significantly affected the final term.

Following deductions for the seven years the now 50-year-old Inniss has spent on remand, the delay and his early guilty plea, Justice Elwood Watts ordered Inniss to spend 230 more days behind bars at Dodds Prison before being released.

Inniss, of 1st Avenue, Prescod Bottom, Bank Hall, St Michael, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the stabbing death of Rogers on February 14, 2018.

Principal State Counsel Oliver Thomas and State Counsel Dr Zoe King prosecuted the case, while Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens represented the manslayer.

Justice Watts found that the victim’s age, the use of a knife, the stab to a vulnerable area of the neck and the use of excessive force were aggravating factors in the offence. But mitigating in his favour, it was found that Inniss had wrestled the knife away from Rogers during the struggle and there had been no evidence of premeditation or intent to harm the deceased when he approached her.

The court had heard that Rogers, who became known as Bad BoyShirley due to her manner of dressing in pants, shirts and jackets, began living on the streets after her Nelson Street home was destroyed by fire.

Family members told police that she would receive money from tourists and her pension cheques, kept a knife in her hip for protection, and slept at the bus stop near the Princess Alice Highway where she met her death.

On the night of February 13, police officers on patrol observed a person lying on the bench of the bus stop dressed in a grey and green shirt, dark coloured jacket, long grey pants and black shoes. They also observed a man standing directly next to the bench, searching a garbage can which was also next to the bench.

They responded to a call the following morning at the same bus stop, where they found the motionless body of the same person they had seen the night before, later identified as the deceased.

A laceration was seen on the left side of Rogers’s neck, a pool of blood under her head and a silver coloured knife without the handle, stuck in her clothing on her chest.

Cause of death was determined to be blood loss from a slash wound to the neck.

Investigations led to Inniss who said that he did not go to rob the deceased, who he thought was a man, but went and asked for money to buy food.

He claimed that Rogers pulled a knife on him, he grabbed it and “pushed it in him” before leaving the area.