It was the court case that stunned the nation in January and led to convicted murderer Jermaine Pearman spending life behind bars.On the day his trial was supposed to begin, the 37-year-old pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of his estranged girlfriend, beloved mother-of-two Shakeya DeRoza.Pearman stabbed the 23-year-old prison officer at her home on Paynter’s Lane in Sandys on July 10, 2009.She tried to run to nearby stores for help but died on Middle Road before she could get any.Pearman was arrested on the Railway Trial behind Somerset Bridge that afternoon; armed with a knife and suffering from a self-inflicted neck wound.Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney told Supreme Court Pearman broke into Ms DeRoza’s home on the day of the murder, had “non-consensual sex” with her and stabbed her multiple times. Pearman insisted he was acting in self-defence, that Ms DeRoza stabbed him in the neck during a fight where both were armed with knives.He denied breaking into her house and raping her.Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves sentenced Pearman to life in prison without eligibility for parole for at least 25 years.January also saw drunk driver Angela Ambrosini sentenced to spend a year behind bars after knocking then 16-year-old Shakir Amory off his bike.The 37-year-old was more than two-and-a-half times the legal limit when her car veered across the road, hit a wall and landed on the teenager.He suffered a severe head injury which left him with an “intellectual deficit”, memory loss, fractures to his jaw, collarbone, hip and ribs, two broken legs, a broken wrist, lung damage and lacerations.Mr Amoury spent three months in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital recuperating and a further month at a rehabilitation hospital in Boston.The month also saw a steady wave of job losses hit the Country. Thirteen people were made redundant from law firm Conyers, Dill and Pearman on January 10.Bermuda Employers’ Council director Martin Law said Bermuda lost up to 3,000 jobs over the past two years and estimated the trend would continue in 2011.Then Economy Minister Kim Wilson announced plans to help the struggling construction industry by giving small companies a “series of minor jobs”.