Reduced sentence for man who killed girlfriend at Manchester supermarket

The Court of Appeal has reduced the sentence of Andre Broomfield, the man who shot his girlfriend several times in the head at their supermarket job in Manchester.

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter arising from the fatal shooting of Shantell Whyte on December 31, 2019.

He was sentenced to 18 years and five months, but the Court of Appeal has reduced it to 15 years and seven months.

Whyte was shot five times in the head while in the lunch room at the MasterMac Food Store in Mandeville, Manchester where she and Broomfield were employed.

On the day of the incident, Broomfield told a co-worker that another co-worker had kissed Whyte on the cheek.

When Whyte responded that the kiss should have been on her lips, Broomfield got into a rage, pulled his licenced firearm and shot her.

Broomfield, who is now 33, contended on appeal that the sentence was manifestly excessive.

Attorney-at-law Norman Godfrey, who represented Broomfield, had argued that the judge erred when she had failed to demonstrate the method of calculation applied at arriving at the sentence of 18 years and five months.

He said she arrived at her decision having ascribed to the aggravating circumstances a period of 18 years without demonstrating the method she applied to arrive at that calculation.

Godfrey submitted that “having looked at a number of cases treating with similar circumstances, a more appropriate and justifiable sentence, given the totally of circumstances, including the mitigating factors, would be between six to 10 years' imprisonment at hard labour.”

Crown Counsel Malika Kellier and Dwayne Green opposed the application.

Kellier argued that the judge utilised the correct principles and methodology in determining the sentence and urged the court not to interfere with the sentence imposed as it was neither harsh nor manifestly excessive.

The court found that the judge erred in principle in respect of the sentencing process.

“We are of the view that the starting point of seven years was not appropriate for the particular circumstances of the present case. The applicant shot the deceased, with whom he was having an intimate relationship, five times in the head with his licensed firearm,” the court ruled this month.

A starting point of 15 years would be more appropriate taking into consideration the applicant's culpability and the harm caused, the court comprising Justice Jennifer Straw, Justice Nicole Foster-Pusey and Justice Vivienne Harris ruled.

The court, in agreeing with Godfrey's submissions that the judge erred in her calculation, said “we identified some errors in the approach adopted by the sentencing judge as it related to the steps to be followed in the calculation process as well as the adjustment to the aggravating factors. We also identified a minor error in her application of the mitigating factors.”

In allowing the appeal against sentence, the court substituted a sentence of 15 years and seven months imprisonment for the pre-detention period of two years and five months having been deducted.

The sentence is to run from May 31, 2022, when it was imposed.

- Barbara Gayle

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