The Justice of the Peace whose electrified fence allegedly caused the death of a would-be thief, appeared in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on Monday to answer to a charge of manslaughter.

Whitney Andrews of Lot 12 C Surat Drive, Triumph, East Coast Demerara was placed on $75, 000 bail and will return to court later this month.

Thirty-eight -year-old Lairie Semple was electrocuted last week Wednesday while he was reportedly attempting to steal a water drum from the yard of the Justice of the Peace, over a wired fence. Reports are that the fence may have been set up to deter criminal elements in the area.

A senior police officer told Stabroek News that the JP was charged with manslaughter upon the recommendation of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).The police source said that the post-mortem showed that Semple died from a heart attack caused by an electric shock.

According to reports, the JP was in the house with two clients when a neighbour called sometime around 9 am and told him that someone was stealing a drum from his yard. Upon investigating, the JP initially did not see anything but subsequently discovered the drum outside of his yard and Semple’s lifeless body in the yard.

Police were summoned to the scene and the JP was taken into custody, while the electric wire was disconnected from the fence.