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Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Today, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed the appeal of two brothers, Orwin Hinds and Cleon Hinds against their murder convictions and reserved judgment in relation to their appeals against sentence in the consolidated Guyanese appeal of Orwin Hinds v The DPP, CCJ Appeal No GYCR2022/001; Cleon Hinds v The DPP, CCJ Appeal No GYCR2022/002.

The appellants, Orwin Hinds and Cleon Hinds as well as two other men, were charged with the murder of Clementine Fiedtkou Parris on 30 June 2011, following an arrangement where money was intended to pass from one person to another. At the High Court, the four men were convicted of the offence of murder contrary to section 100(1)(d)(i) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act and they were each sentenced to 81 years in prison. On appeal, the Court of Appeal of Guyana upheld their convictions but reduced their sentences to 50 years. Being dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decision, the brothers appealed to the CCJ.

The CCJ after hearing the appeal, ordered that the appellants’ appeal against conviction be dismissed. The Court, however, reserved its decision on the appeals against the sentence following concerns expressed by the CCJ judges about the process that resulted in the imposition of the sentence. Full reasons for the CCJ’s decision will be delivered in due course.

The matter was heard by the Honourable Mr Justice Adrian Saunders, President and the Honourable Justices Wit, Rajnauth-Lee, Barrow and Burgess. The appellants were represented by Mr Arudranauth Gossai and the respondent was represented by Ms Teshana Lake and Ms Diana O’Brien.