A man from Arima, who admitted to murdering a taxi driver during a carjacking in 2004, has been sentenced to almost 20 years in prison.
Reginald Williams, of Blanchisseuse Road, Arima, received the sentence after pleading guilty to killing 53-year-old John Houllier on February 22, 2004, before High Court judge David Harris in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday.
Williams, who had indicated since 2009 he wished to confess to the crime and face his sentence, was able to do so this week after State prosecutors accepted his plea and initiated a “good year” hearing, that is, an accused person is told the maximum sentence they would face if they plead guilty.
During the hearing Harris set the maximum sentence at 30 years but gave a one-year discount as Williams showed remorse for his action. Williams’ sentence was then reduced further after the mandatory one third discount for early guilty pleas was applied. Williams is expected to be released in seven years time as he had already served over 12 years in prison while on remand awaiting trial.
Before passing the sentence, Harris referred to a victim impact statement from Houllier’s daughter, Tricia Layne, who said that she and her family were still trying to come to terms with her father’s brutal murder.
“I often decline invitations from my co-workers and eat lunch by my desk because I’m not up to being social with them. They will never know the happier person I once was. I now live in fear knowing that people can be so evil and heartless,” Layne said.
She also pleaded with the court not to be lenient in sentencing Williams.
“Let them feel the pain and suffering they inflicted upon him at the time of his death. Show them no mercy. For my pain will never go away. Neither should theirs,” Layne said.
According to the evidence read during his sentencing, Williams and two of his neighbours chopped Houllier several times when they were robbing him of his daily earnings from his taxi.
Houllier was last seen alive by his fellow taxi driver Colin Grant earlier that night when the two were parked at a taxi stand in Arima. Grant said an hour later he saw Houllier’s car parked in a ditch at the side of Blanchisseuse Road.
Grant contacted police and when they arrived they found a semi-conscious Houllier lying a patch of bushes with several chops wounds. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.