Sheldon Bowen and Leon Munroe, the two men charged with hacking fisheries worker Mark Solomon to death, were yesterday discharged at the end of a preliminary inquiry.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry who presided over the case at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, discharged Bowen and Munroe, saying that a prima facie case had not been made out against them.
Bowen, 36, of Water Street, Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara and Munroe, 29, were accused of the June 12, 2012 McDoom East Bank Demerara murder of Solomon. At the time of the murder, the two accused and Solomon were employed with the Pritipaul Singh Investments (PSI) fisheries complex.
The decision was greeted by loud applause and shouts of praise by relatives of the men, who were in the courtroom at the time. Others on the corridors outside the court room also celebrated and sang praises to God.
Bowen and Munroe appeared calm but wore ear-to-ear smiles on their faces.
Solomon’s relatives, meanwhile, were solemn.
The preliminary inquiry had started on July 16.
In handing down her ruling, the magistrate said that the prosecution, led by Prosecutor Stephen Telford, failed to establish a nexus between the incidents which transpired on the day of the murder to the men’s alleged involvement in causing Solomon’s death. She also said that while the defendants raised the defence of self-defence, the prosecution led no evidence to negate it.
Attorney Simone Morris-Ramlall, who represented Bowen, had argued during the preliminary inquiry that no eyewitness was presented to the court by the prosecution to testify to having seen the accused attacking or killing the deceased. She also contended that after the ‘cutlass-wielding’ Solomon began chasing the defendants, there was a later report that Solomon had died. “How do we know what caused the death of the deceased when there was no eyewitness?” Morris-Ramlall questioned, while suggesting that it could have been a number of other things which caused his death.
Munroe was represented by attorney Beverly Bishop-Cheddi.
When the case was called yesterday morning, Prose-cutor Telford had indicated to the court that after previous submissions, that the prosecution had closed its case in the matter.
The defence then responded with no case-submissions and after their addresses, the prosecutor requested an adjournment to respond.
Morris-Ramlall, however, argued against the further adjournment, saying that the prosecution had been previously granted countless adjournments but was still ill-prepared when the matter was called.
Telford, in response, said that he had not been involved in the case from the beginning and wanted time to peruse the file. Morris-Ramlall, however, contended that this was no excuse, since he had been given adequate time to peruse the file and be prepared.
Morris-Ramlall argued that even if a new prosecutor takes over the case “from the night before,” they ought to properly peruse the file to be able to make representations if the case is called the very next day.
Telford nevertheless requested a one-day adjournment to respond to the defence, but in light of the many adjournments previously granted, the visibly-upset magistrate ordered Telford to properly prepare himself to respond to the defence in the afternoon.
After making this order, Telford in a low voice uttered, “[that] is why I didn’t want [take] the brief in this case in the first place.”
The Chief Magistrate, however, heard him and reprimanded him for his conduct. She cautioned that while he may not have intended to speak for the court’s hearing, the court heard his utterances. She reminded him that he was an officer of the law and had to perform his duties.
Solomon called “Taunty,” 36, of Non Pareil Street, Albouystown, had in the past featured on the undercard of several local professional fights.
Family members told this newspaper that he was a welterweight boxer and fought for various gyms, including Republican and the Young Achievers and he also represented the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Prison Service.
