Farmer jailed as woman falls to her death during cutlass attack in Richland Park  

A Richland Park man was on Tuesday sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the death of Bonnie Filma Bacchus, 53, who fell over a wall while the defendant was planning a man with a cutlass on Aug. 1, 2020.

Mickey Pompey’s attempt to show remorse at the end of the sentencing exercise earned him no points, Justice Rickie Burnett said as he handed down the sentence at High Court No. 2, in Kingstown.

He also jailed Pompey, 45, for two years for wounding Hugh Peters, then 63, of Simon, during the planning incident. 

The three months and one day that Pompey spent on remand was deducted from the sentences, which will run concurrently.

This means that Pompey will spend a further seven years, eight months and 29 days in prison. 

A jury found Pompey guilty of manslaughter in an 8-1 verdict but returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the wounding charge.

The facts are that on Aug. 1, 2020, about 3 p.m. Peters, Pompey and Bacchus were at a shop in Richland Park.

An argument ensued between Pompey, a mason and farmer, and Peters.

Pompey left the shop, taking with him his spray can and cutlass. 

Pompey was on the road heading in the direction of his home when Peters came out of a shop and shouted obscenities at him.

Bacchus, who was outside the shop, was standing close to Peters, who was on a platform speaking to someone in a vehicle. 

Pompey turned back, approached Peters on the platform, struck him in the face and started planning him with a cutlass.

Peters tried to escape the cutlass attack and collided with Bacchus, who fell into the road facedown. 

Peters also fell onto the road and Pompey ran into the road and continued to attack him with the cutlass.

Peters received a 5cm laceration to his head, a 4cm laceration to his forehead and bruises to the right elbow. 

A person at the scene assisted Bacchus into a nearby yard and attempted to revive her. 

She was taken to the Levi Latham Health Centre and then to Milton Cato Memorial Hospital where she died on Aug. 8, 2020. 

An autopsy concluded that she died of a head injury due to a fall from a height.

Pompey was unrepresented during the trial, but counsel Charmaine Walters represented him during the sentencing exercise.

A social inquiry report said Pomopey lived with his partner and two young children, at Richland Park.
He left school at Senior 1 and began to work as a labourer. Family members described him as hardworking, jovial and well-loved. 

The report said he did not accept responsibility for Bacchus’ death, blaming Peters for it.

Prison authorities said he is well-behaved and Pompey’s community described him as hardworking, peaceful and willing to accept him into the community. 

In the victim impact report, Peter said he was angry when he saw blood coming from his face. The injuries he sustained from being planned with the cutlass caused him to be unable to use his right hand for about a week.

Augustus Bacchus, a cousin of the deceased, said Bacchus’s death affected him mentally because he was present when the incident occurred and took her to the hospital. 

He also gave his views on a possible sentence Pompey should receive.

On the manslaughter charge, Justice Burnett established a starting point of 12 years in prison.

He said aggravating was that the death was caused in the course of an unlawful act and mitigating was that Pompey had acted spontaneously and as a result of an element of provocation by Peters.

The judge concluded that the mitigating features of the offence outweighed the aggravating features and reduced the sentence by three years.

Mitigating of the offender was that the social inquiry report said he was hardworking, easy-going, industrious, non-violent, respectful and calm. 

The judge also noted that Pompey was a man of good character before this conviction, meaning that he had no previous conviction 

Justice Burnett noted that Pompey’s lawyer had attempted to make a case that his lack of expression of remorse resulted from his low IQ and lack of understanding of legal principles. 

The judge, however, noted that Pomey had benefited from the advice of competent legal counsel and that the social inquiry report said that he did not accept responsibility for the incident, as evidenced in his defence, which the jury rejected. 

Pompey continued to blame Peters, Justice Burnett said, adding that his attempt to show remorse at the very end of the sentencing exercise earned him no points.

The judge, however, found aggravating features of the offender and further reduced the sentence by one year. 

On the wounding charge, the judge established a starting point of six years and four months. 

In considering the aggravating and mitigating features of the offence, he noted the lack of premeditation, and some level of provocation by Peters through the offending words he used to Pompey, though they both exchanged words.

Justice Burnett concluded that the mitigating features outweighed the aggravating ones and reduced the sentence by two years and four months.

He further reduced it by two years after considering the aggravating and mitigating features of the offender.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Karim Nelson prosecuted the case and Crown Counsel Aalana Cumberbatch represented the Crown at Tuesday’s sentencing.