BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE sentencing hearing for manslaughter-confessed Mekel Clarke was scheduled to take place Thursday (Dec 17) but had to be deferred.
The young woman was arrested and charged with the murder of Ernish Emmanuel Weekes, an incident which took place on October 14, 2007 in Challengers Village. She was committed to stand trial at the Basseterre High Court of Justice during the September 2009 Criminal Assizes.
Initially, the accused pleaded not guilty to murder, but sometime later her indictment was amended to include a lesser charge of “manslaughter”. After the modified indictment was read to the accused, she pleaded guilty to the lesser of the two charges.
His Lordship Justice Francis Belle ordered that a social inquiry be conducted on Clarke’s behalf which was to have been presented to the court before the date of sentencing.
Director of Public Prosecution Paulina Hendrickson informed the court that additional time is needed for the report to be compiled; time which the court granted. Clarke’s sentencing is now scheduled to take place during the upcoming January 2010 Criminal Assizes.
The facts of the case were divulged in court, according to which Clarke gave a statement to the police admitting to stabbing Weekes, adding that she did so because he held her down and had sex with her against her will.
Clarke’s counsel, Angela Inniss had no objection to the granting of additional time to compile the report and explained that the contents of the report may prove beneficial to her client.
Clarke is scheduled to return to court on January 21 for sentencing.
