Shakira Cu'Shan Prescott Receives 7-Year Prison Sentence for Stabbing Death of Boyfriend, Sham Alleyne

She said it was only when his brothers came to tell her he was lying on the ground that she left the house. After checking his pulse, Prescott said, she told people who had gathered to bring Alcolado for him to smell and to rub on his forehead. She went home as the crowd started arguing with her about her actions. She returned to check on him again and went home once more before a friend called to say he had died. She then went to the police station with a neighbour.

A post-mortem report showed that Alleyne died due to haemorrhagic shock due to a single stab wound.

Outlining the aggravating factors, Watson said the now-convicted woman was the aggressor in the matter, she had been armed in advance with a dangerous weapon, the deceased was unarmed, and the offence was violent. He also pointed to the deleterious impact the act had on Alleyne’s family.

He said the only mitigating factor was Prescott’s attempt to provide first aid, and suggested a starting point of 24 years in prison, minus two years taking into consideration her assistance of the police and expression of remorse. With the one-third discount for her early guilty plea and the 1 043 days spent on remand also taken into account, Watson submitted that a sentence of 11 years and eight months behind bars would do justice in the case.

Pointing out that several witnesses, including Alleyne’s mother, indicated that the relationship between the two was often combative, defence attorney Sian Lange said the evidence shows a relationship characterised by violence and arguments.

She argued that this had to be taken into consideration when looking at the mitigating factors. The attorney asserted that Prescott could not be considered the lone aggressor as Alleyne had been pulled out of the fight but chose to head back outside to continue it.

She also said several witnesses had testified that Prescott often carried around the scissors to cut up marijuana, and, therefore, it was not a case of her being armed in advance as suggested by the prosecution.

Lange also highlighted that her client had tried to give Alleyne first aid but stopped when people in the neighbourhood began quarrelling with her for stabbing him.

She recommended a starting point of 15 years for the offence, deducting three years due to her not having any previous convictions, her cooperation with the police, her early guilty plea and her expression of remorse.

Lange submitted a sentence of five years and two months.

In handing down his ruling, Justice Greaves said: “I find and accept that even though she delivered the stab wound to the now deceased man, there was no intention to kill him because, had there been, the conviction would have been for murder.

“There was an intention or recklessness as to the nature of the injury she would inflict, but it could not be said that there was an intention really to inflict serious injury in the circumstances. Her conduct, one, with a single stab wound, tends to support that, and two, her attempt to apply resuscitation to him tends to indicate some remorse and regret about her actions.”

Mitigating in her favour, Justice Greaves said, was the fact that she had no previous convictions, her contrition and the fact that she cooperated with the police. An aggravating factor was her presentence report, which illustrated a moderate to high risk of re-offending.

After crediting Prescott for the early guilty plea and time on remand, he told her she had seven years and two months to spend behind bars.

“Life is fragile. He has gone to the grave, you have gone to jail, and what started it? A pair of slippers. Sometimes we really have to stop and see where little material things can drive us into the abyss,” Justice Greaves asserted.