Man jailed for causing death of woman who fell on her head

A man was sentenced to eight years in prison for the death of a woman, by causing her to fall on her head from a raised platform, as he was hitting another man who verbally provoked him.

Micky Pompey, 45, appeared at the High Court before Justice Rickie Burnett on Tuesday June 13, 2024, where he was sentenced to prison for manslaughter and wounding.

Pompey was charged that on August 1, 2020, he caused the death of Bonnie Filma Bacchus, 53, by causing her to fall and hit her head.

Pompey also was charged that on August 1, 2020, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Hugh Peters, who was then 63, by ‘planning’ him with a cutlass.

Pompey was found guilty of both offences after a full trial.

The facts read that on August 1, 2020, at 3:00 p.m, Bacchus, Peters and Pompey were at a shop when an argument broke out between Peters and Pompey.

Pompey left the shop and was on the road heading home. Bacchus was standing on a raised platform in close proximity to Peters, when he began shouting obscenities at Pompey.

As a result, Pompey approached Peters and started ‘planning’ him with a cutlass. In an attempt to evade the attack, Peters collided with Bacchus, causing her to fall off the platform and onto the road on her face.

Bacchus, was taken to seek medical attention but died one week later. An autopsy showed that she suffered a head injury due to a fall from a height.

Justice Burnett said that Pompey still has not taken responsibility for Bacchus’ death, but instead blames Peters for causing Bacchus to lose her life.

Peters was unable to use his right hand for one week due to the injuries which he sustained from the cutlass attack. One of Bacchus’ cousins said that he is still hurt and affected by Bacchus’ death.

The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment, or 30 years in prison. Justice Burnett considered that Pompey intended to cause harm and began the sentencing at 12 years imprisonment.

Aggravating of the offence was that while Pompey was committing one offence, it caused the death of another person. Mitigating of the offence was that there was provocation caused by Peters, and the offence was committed spontaneously.

The mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factors, so three years were deducted from Pompey’s sentence. Mitigating of the offender was that he was hard-working, not a trouble maker, respectful, calm, and was of good character prior to this offence.

Aggravating of the offender was that Pompey does not accept responsibility for the incident and failed to appreciate his conduct in this matter. Justice Burnett found that the mitigating factors outweighed those aggravating and Pompey’s sentence was reduced by one year.

Therefore, Pompey was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. However, the three months and one day he spent on remand were deducted from his sentence, so Pompey will serve a remainder of seven years, eight months and 29 days in prison for manslaughter.

As for the wounding offence, Justice Burnett said that Peters received a five centimetre laceration to his body, bruises on his right elbow, and a four centimetre laceration to his head.

The judge considered that a cutlass was used to administer these wounds, so he began sentencing at six years, and four months imprisonment.

The judge found that there were no aggravating factors of the offence. Mitigating was that there was no premeditation, and there was some level of provocation, though both men exchanged words.

The mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating, so the sentence was reduced by two years and four months. Justice Burnett found no aggravating factors of the offender.

Mitigating of him was his good character. The mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating, so Pompey’s sentence was reduced by two years. He therefore was sentenced to two years in prison for the offence of wounding.

Time spent on remand, amounting to three months and one day, was deducted from his sentence. Pompey therefore, will serve a balance of one year, eight months, and 29 days in prison.

These sentences will run concurrently as the offences derived from the same set of circumstances.