Messages Jada Loutoo 4 hours ago
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A 56-year-old Curepe man who admitted to killing a coconut vendor who mocked him for sleeping with his wife by hitting him in the head with a brick in a bar in 2012 was charged by a high court bail judge.
On Monday, Enal Gobin’s immediate release was ordered by Judge Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, who accepted a March 16 agreement between the state and the defense.
Gobin, also known as Corey, was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter due to the provocation. He was charged with the murder of Jagdeo Basdeo, who died weeks after the attack. Gobin was originally charged with intentional wounding, but that changed to murder when Basdeo died.
In sentencing Gobin, Ramsumair-Hinds said she could not ignore the nature of the provocation in this case.
“Some in society believe that words are insufficient to justify an unlawful killing. I’m not suggesting anything else.” However, she said there is a need to understand the impact words can have.
She said the facts in the case had undertones of toxic masculinity that were played out time and again in TT, albeit not the typical portrayal of it.
“This has been giving me problems,” she admitted, acknowledging the toxic masculinity in TT culture and the support and condemnation of it lately.
Referring to the facts, the judge stated that Gobin was aware of his wife’s infidelity, but he had been in the bar with her and there was no “toxicity” or history of violence between them.
“Given the history of infidelity, he used to socialize quietly in an environment with his wife. It was the deceased who repeatedly provoked the accused in the presence of his wife by telling him that he was having sexual relations with his wife.”
She said she in no way blamed the victim, but in this case, CCTV footage captured by the bar showed it didn’t start with an angry, offended or annoyed Gobin.
“You saw it being pulled out by the deceased. Those words could have, and clearly did, provoke a temporary and sudden loss of self-control… That is the effect of provocation.”
As a warning to Gobin and others, the judge suggested changing the colloquialism “One cannot take a horn” to “Prison that grows into ripe fig.”
“I think you were punished appropriately,” she told him before setting out the terms of the bond she imposed on him.
“It was an ingenious attack.”
Gobin was placed on $50,000 bail to keep the peace for three years or serve a five-year prison sentence if bail is violated.
He will be under the supervision of a probation officer and attend anger management sessions for the three years.
Gobin will also appear in court once a year for the next three years on the anniversary of his conviction to provide the court with a status report.
After the judge explained the terms of the bail, she also told Gobin that she did not see him as a threat to society and expressed hope that the court’s order would help him reintegrate.
“I think the experience[in prison]would have changed you,” she said. She also mentioned that his wife had died while he was incarcerated.
Gobin was also credited with taking over his family’s business at the early age of 11 when he was removed from the elementary school system to be the only living male to look after the family.
“It would have disrupted his life,” the judge said, noting that society often places responsibilities on children too early.
While Gobin failed to complete elementary school, the judge said, with no formal training and using his “business acumen” at age 11, he took over the business, which thrived.
“He is stepping back into society after building a solid financial footing in life.”
It was the state’s case that Gobin and his wife were drinking at the Chosen Bar on the corner of Jackson Street and McInroy Street in Curepe on December 30, 2012 when Basdeo joined them.
The two men started “old talk” with Basdeo, telling Gobin that he was “sleeping with his wife.”
Gobin told the man he was being too disrespectful and Basdeo allegedly hit Gobin, who grabbed a hammer to hit Basdeo before being restrained by his wife and friends, who told him to “keep cool”.
Gobin walked away but turned and hit Basdeo once with the brick before throwing it away.
An ambulance was called and Basdeo, who was unconscious, was taken to hospital where he was monitored for 24 days before dying from his head injuries. At the St. Joseph police station, Gobin admitted to hitting Basdeo on the head. He said Basdeo told him he used to sleep with his wife and when he asked him to leave he refused.
CCTV footage of the bar incident, photos, medical reports and an autopsy report were presented as evidence in March when Gobin pleaded guilty.
Basdeo’s son Khemchand said in a victim statement his mother left him and his father when he was a toddler and it was hard when his father died because “he was everything I knew and the financial provider of the household was”.
He said his grandmother, with whom he and his father lived, died a year after his father and he was forced to work part-time to pay for his school supplies.
He also said of Gobin, “I still don’t know how to feel about the man who took my father away, so I don’t know if I could forgive him.”
Gobin was represented by public defenders Ravindra Rajah and Alima Alexis, while prosecutors Danielle Thompson and Rhea Libert appeared for the office of the director of public prosecutions.
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