BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — A Manchester man who was accused of murdering the mother of his then two-year-old son in 2013 was sentenced to life imprisonment in the St Elizabeth Circuit Court last week.

Rohan Thomas, 32, of Old England, Manchester, who was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Kimberly Simpson on November 29, 2013 will have to serve 30 years before being eligible for parole.

Thomas was found guilty of stabbing Simpson during a dispute at her home in Nain, St Elizabeth. The court heard that the incident happened in the presence of their son.

It had taken the seven-man jury just 90 minutes on November 24 to arrive at a unanimous verdict.

High Court Judge Carol Beswick told the court that in arriving at her sentence, she took into consideration that members of Thomas’s community described him as a good individual and a caring father of his other children.

She said she also took into consideration the way he brutally killed Simpson, even after being warned by the police, and then went further by setting furnishing in the room on fire.

The High Court judge said that there are many grieving individuals who over the last three years have had to live with the pain of losing a loved one, and a child who has lost his mother at the hand of the man who is his father.

During her summation of the evidence to the jury on November 24, Justice Beswick pointed to several gaps and inconsistencies in sworn testimony by the accused.

Thomas in his sworn evidence from the dock told the court that on the morning of November 29, 2013, he arrived at the home of the deceased which she shared with her grandmother. He said that while in her room, three men armed with gun, knife and a baseball bat barged in and demanded that the deceased hand over the lead sheets she had in her possession.

He said that during the ordeal he made no attempt to call for help, nor did he try to offer any assistance to the deceased.

He further told the court that one of the men then used a dumb-bell (metal weight) which was on the floor to hit the deceased in the head. The men then set alight furniture in the room before leaving, Thomas said.

The court heard evidence from Simpson’s grandmother that on the morning of November 29, 2013, Thomas arrived at her home and an argument developed between the deceased and the accused.

The police were called and the accused was warned about his behaviour.

The court was told that after the police left, Thomas barricaded himself in the room with Simpson and used a dumb-bell and knife to inflict several fatal blows to her.

He then set fire to furnishing in the room.

Thomas then hid himself in the ceiling of the house. It took eight hours before Thomas surrendered and was removed from the ceiling by police, firefighters and soldiers.

The court also heard from the investigating officer that during a 90-minute question and answer session conducted in the presence of three justices of the peace, Thomas confessed that he killed Simpson.

The police investigator said Thomas also revealed during the question and answer session that he called a relative and told them he had just killed his baby’s mother.

During his almost three years in custody, Thomas dismissed five defence lawyers who were assigned to him.