The Guyana Prison Service has announced that a directive has been issued to recall convicted murderer Bibi Gopaul to prison to complete serving her lawful sentence imposed by the Caribbean Court of Justice.

The move by the Prison Service followed a report by News Source on Wednesday, which raised several questions about Gopaul’s early release and the incorrect calculation of her time behind bars.

In a statement this afternoon, the Guyana Prison Service admitted that Gopaul, who was ordered to serve a 25-year prison term for the murder of her daughter, was recently released from Prison as a result of an incorrect calculation of her prison term.

The CCJ in its judgement had ordered that the prisoner serves 25 years from the date of the conviction. The sentence in the words of the CCJ is as follows:

“In all of the circumstances… a just and proportionate sentence is 30 years imprisonment with no eligibility for parole before the expiration of 15 years. From this sentence, the period of 5 years will be deducted for time spent in custody while on remand, with the practical consequences that from the date of conviction in 2015, Gopaul will spend a maximum of 25 years in prison”, the CCJ ruled.

The Prison Service said that in error, the Prison Officials reckoned the sentence to run from the date Gopaul was first remanded which was the 10th of October 2010, and not the 5th of March 2015 which was the date of conviction and on which sentence was imposed.

The Prison Service admitted that from the clear language of the order of the CCJ, the sentence started from the time of conviction.

As News Source reported yesterday, Gopaul was quietly released from prison several weeks ago and was already resettling in her West Demerara home.

At first, the Prison Director denied her early release, then claimed that she had been paroled, before eventually admitting that she was released early.

The Parole Board made it clear that it played no part in her release since the matter was never before the Board and the Chairperson of the Parole Board said she was left surprised by the early release.

Late last night, President Irfaan Ali after reading the News Source report, contacted senior Prison Officials and ordered a complete and full investigation into the early release and the calculation of her time behind bars. The President said any person found responsible for the embarrassing situation would face consequences.

NEWS Source understands that the President was provided with the correct calculation this morning.

The Neesa Gopaul murder case was a high profile case. The teen’s lifeless body was found in a suitcase dumped near a creek along the Linden Soesdyke Highway back in 2010.

The teen’s mother and her step father were charged for the murder and found guilty by jury trial. However, they appealed the case at the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the convictions but reduced the sentences to 45-years each.

The two took their appeal further to the Caribbean Court of Justice. The matter was heard, and in August 2022, the CCJ dismissed the conviction against the stepfather, Jarvis Small, resulting in his release. But the Court affirmed the mother’s conviction, however, it reduced her sentence further to 30 years in jail with five years being removed for her time on remand and the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Gopaul is now expected to stay behind bars for another four years.

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President orders full and complete probe into early release of woman convicted of daughter’s murder Convicted murderer Bibi Gopaul gets early release from prison; Parole Board left in dark CCJ frees stepfather and reduces sentence of mother in Neesa Gopaul murder case Jail sentence for Neesa Gopaul’s murderers reduced to 45 years