Sahab Jamshidi set free, fined $36K for role in St. Lucian boy's drowning death

Hamilton man Sahab Jamshidi has been set free and will pay a fine of $36,444 for his role in the drowning death of a 4-year-old boy in St. Lucia in 2015.

A court in St. Lucia handed down the sentence Thursday morning, two years and one day after the death.

He is now free to leave the island. The money was paid to the estate of Terrell Joshua Elibox  immediately after the judge's ruling.

I think that justice has been served on both sides.- Defence lawyer Alberton Richelieu

After years of saying he was innocent, Sahab Jamshidi pleaded guilty in January to causing death by gross negligence or recklessness. The crime carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Jamshidi, a former medical student, is the first person in St. Lucia to be tried under that law.

Elibox drowned on Feb. 22, 2015 in St Lucia.

Jamshidi had told investigators that he was kitesurfing when he noticed the boy struggling in the sea and attempted to rescue him but his kiteboard flipped and the boy submerged.

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However, prosecutors told the court that the boy was making sand castles with an older cousin when Jamshidi took him out for a surfboard ride.

They say the boy fell off the surfboard and drowned. His body was discovered two days later.

Compensation deal

Thursday, High Court Judge Francis Cumberbatch said a last-minute request from the defense for Jamshidi to pay "adequate compensation" to the boy's family was a strong factor in the final outcome.

The judge said Jamshidi should have known the dangers of taking the boy out to sea without the proper protective gear, as a person involved in the medical field. He added that he did not find culpability to be minimal.

Judge Cumberbatch handed Jamshidi a three-year prison sentence which would be suspended upon payment of 75,000 thousand eastern Caribbean dollars to the estate of Elibox.

Jamshidi was briefly detained as his lawyers rushed to an office upstairs the courtroom to have the payment made.

After the judge signed the orders for Jamshidi to be released, his passport was returned and Jamshidi walked out of the courthouse a free man.

Fair result

Defence lawyer Alberton Richelieu said he found the judgment was more than reasonable and added that, "I think that justice has been served on both sides."

The Director of Public Prosecution, Dasrean Greene said, "We found that the sentence was a fair result."

Jowella Roserie – the victim's mother – said "it was fair enough that he pleaded guilty."

Jamshidi was planning a dinner for this evening with Richelieu and Vandyke Jude,  the defence team that saved him from spending three years in a St Lucia prison.

Sadegh Jamshidi said his son will be leaving St Lucia as soon as his travel arrangements are made.