The man who was accused of killing his uncle was freed by a jury yesterday after he was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter.
Fernando Cush was found not guilty of killing his uncle Andrew Benjamin at Canterbury Walk, Beterverwagting (BV).
The jury foreman announced the unanimous verdicts after he and the 11 other jurors were finished deliberating on the evidence presented in the case. Based upon the jury’s decision, Justice Navindra Singh, who presided over the case, told Cush he was free to go and whenever he sees trouble he should “run and run fast”. Cush then ran out of the courtroom.
He was accused of stabbing Benjamin also known as ‘Mongoose’, of Buxton on March 24, 2009 after an argument. According to reports, Benjamin had finished cutting cane at the LBI estate where he was employed and as customary, went to his family’s home to relax before moving on to Buxton. This was sometime after 2 pm. Within a few minutes of him being there, his attacker turned up and immediately objected to his presence. After an argument and a scuffle, eyewitnesses had said, the man managed to stab Benjamin in the heart even as Benjamin tried to fight him off with his cutlass. Benjamin then collapsed and his attacker fled.
Prosecutor Tishana Lake, who presented the state’s case, had called a number of eyewitnesses. But Cush had told the court that his uncle was in the habit of beating him and taking away his money. He had said in his defence that in 2009 he answered the telephone in the house and did not get any reply from the person on the other side of the line. According to him, Benjamin came and accused him of hanging the phone up on his girlfriend and then cuffed him. Benjamin then proceeded to drag him down the step and beat him he had said. Attorney Peter Hugh represented him.
