HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – A 24-year-old man has walked free from Supreme Court after being cleared by a jury of chopping former national team cricketer George O’Brien in the arm with a machete.
Demitrius Gibbons admitted wounding 26-year-old fast bowler O’Brien with intent to do grievous bodily harm during a dispute in St David’s last summer, but said it happened by accident when he was acting in self-defence.
The jury delivered a majority not guilty verdict at the end of a week-long trial after just over four hours of deliberations.
Gibbons smiled and hugged his lawyer, Elizabeth Christopher, after the verdict.
He declined to comment as he left court.
The injury ruled O’Brien, whose father, also George, is Trinidadian, out of a spot in the St George’s in last year’s Cup Match, the island’s premier domestic fixture.
Still a club cricketer, O’Brien was a member of the Bermuda team when they played their first ever One-Day International, taking two wickets in a three-wicket victory via the Duckworth/Lewis method over Canada in May 2006.
