Weak evidence resulted in Justice Roxanne George yesterday ordering a jury to return a unanimous verdict of not guilty in favour of Nigel Forrestor who’d been accused of killing Mahadeo Boodhai at Providence in 2005.
It had been alleged that on November 24, 2005 Forrester murdered Boodhai at the East Bank Demerara location.
Last Friday, after lengthy submissions made by defence attorney Basil Williams, a caution statement was denied admittance to the case’s evidence. Williams had contended that the statement was not freely given by his client. Justice George, after considering arguments from both the defence and prosecution, ruled in favour of Williams and did not allowed the statement to be admitted to evidence.
It was also found that the testimony given by one of the witnesses in the Magistrate’s Court differed from the one given during Forrestor’s trial in the High Court.
Williams subsequently made a no-case submission during which the lack of evidence was emphasized. Justice George upheld the submission and shortly after Forrestor, after spending more than four years in prison, walked from the courtroom a free man.
Recently, several persons accused of murder have walked free because of weak evidence and poor police investigation.
