A Couva man has received concurrent sentences for kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and the larceny of her car in January.

Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds sentenced Sheldon Doodnath on July 29 to nine years, 11 months and 20 days for kidnapping and 7 years, 11 months and 20 days for larceny, all with hard labour.

The judge also ordered a 15-year protection order under the Domestic Violence Act which includes the duration of his prison sentence. If he or the victim wishes to reconcile or co-parent, they can apply for a variation or revocation of the order, as they have a three-year-old child together.

“The court has to recognise the vulnerability of the victim,” the judge said.

Doodnath’s case was the first indictable case to proceed to trial under the new Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act, 2011 (as amended) or AJIPA legislation.

He first appeared before Ramsumair-Hinds on April 30, four months after he was charged, three months after an indictment was filed and two weeks after a High Court Master completed a sufficiency hearing.

The new legislation, proclaimed on December 12, 2023, removes preliminary inquiries for indictable offences, such as murder, kidnapping, money laundering and some forms of sexual abuse, at the magistrates’ courts (now known as district courts).

Under AJIPA, indictable matters go straight to the High Court. The legislation also introduces sufficiency hearings heard by a master, who ensures a case is ready for the trial stage.

A nine-member jury found Doodnath guilty on July 24.

Days earlier, on July 21, the judge revoked his bail after his victim reported he had assaulted her at her home.

The judge’s ruling referred to the victim by her initials in to “afford her some anonymity.”

On the day of the incident on January 3, the victim had just returned to her home in Gasparillo when Doodnath accosted and threatened her and forced her back into her car. In fear, she jumped out of the car with her son, three.

Doodnath drove off and did not stop. The victim never saw the car again. Days later its burnt shell was found in Carolina Village by police.

Doodnath, who testified at the trial at the O’Meara Judicial Centre in Arima, claimed he had gone to his victim’s home to drop off money and visit their child.

He claimed they were in her car when a crowd approached him aggressively and he drove off, as he was afraid. He said he intended to make a block before returning for his van, but while he was driving along a bad patch of road, the woman grabbed the child and jumped out.

He and his father went to the Gasparillo police station on January 7, where he was arrested.

He said he tried to tell the police his version of what happened, but they kept accusing him of lying. He also accused the police of making inappropriate comments and rushing him to sign a statement.

The judge said the jury, by their verdict, rejected his defences of denial and fabrication.

In sentencing Doodnath, she urged him to use his time in prison to learn temperance, restraint and bo