Man sentenced to 7 years for manslaughter |07 February 2024
Ryan Marie was on Monday sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter, following the stabbing and death of 26-year-old Antoine Cousin at a Pointe Larue bus stop, on September 25, 2022.
Marie, who was aged 23 at the time of the incident, is entitled to remission if he is of good conduct. The time he spent on remand is part of the sentence, Judge Gustave Dodin ordered.
According to the facts of the case, Marie committed the offence following an altercation with Cousin over money allegedly owed to the victim by Marie’s uncle.
Evidence arising from the investigation suggests that Marie was heading towards a bus stop at Pointe Larue when he noticed that he was being followed by the deceased, who was carrying a piece of wood. Marie refused to give Cousin the R500 allegedly owed to him, leading Cousin to threaten Marie with the piece of wood, and an altercation ensued.
During the confrontation, Cousin hit Marie three times with the piece of wood, which he blocked with his hands. They continued fighting in the street behind the bus stop, and Cousin hit Marie again, causing him to fall. Marie, who had a knife concealed in his t-shirt, managed to get up, and rushed towards Cousin with the knife, and proceeded to stab him in the belly.
The pair continued to fight and Marie managed to pin Cousin to a wall, where he stabbed Cousin several more times, before Cousin stopped fighting and asked that Marie let go of him. At that point, a passer-by approached them, and Marie ran away.
Cousin was transported to the Seychelles Hospital in critical condition, with trauma to his abdomen, and was attended to by health professionals. He was certified dead at 17:18 hours by a doctor of the emergency Unit. He had stab wounds on his abdomen, left side of his chest and abdomen, and on his right arm.
A post-mortem carried out on the deceased stated the cause of death as a perforation of the apex of the heart, due to a stab wound to the chest.
Despite initially fleeing from the scene, Marie gave himself up to police officers at the scene of the crime, shortly after. He was on the way to turning himself in at the Seychelles International Airport police station. Upon being questioned, he led officers to a house in Anse Des Gênets where he was residing at the time, and handed the knife over.
The pre-sentencing report by the probation services disclosed that Marie and Cousin were close friends prior to this incident.
The report further highlighted that Marie regretted the stabbing, and had no intention to kill Cousin. He expressed his sympathy to Cousin’s family.
Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Dodin considered the mitigating factors, including that Marie has no prior criminal history, that he is remorseful, and that he was subject to unwarranted assault by Cousin.
However, Judge Dodin highlighted the fact that Marie was carrying a knife.
Laura Pillay