– policeman testifies
Roger Pilgrim, who is being tried for the 2011 murder of his neighbour Shane Rowley in `A’ Field Sophia, had admitted to stabbing Rowley twice in his caution statement, a police witness testified yesterday.
Pilgrim is accused of killing Rowley in January 2011 after a long-standing feud over the use of a passageway. He is on trial before a 12-member jury and Justice Dawn Gregory in the High Court.
Police witness Cabnauth Singh told the court that Pilgrim had confessed in an oral statement to injuring Rowley. Singh said Pilgrim was then asked to give a written statement and he agreed, adding that no force or violence was used against him.
State attorney Mercedes Thompson requested that the statement be admitted as evidence in the trial and it was tendered by Justice Gregory. Singh read the statement.
In his statement, Pilgrim related that he was sleeping when his younger brother woke him up and told him to look through the window.
He said he saw Rowley, with a big chain in his hands, saying that nobody was allowed out of the yard. He said that Rowley and his brother Sherwin had a confrontation and he sent his mother out to see what was happening. He recalled seeing Rowley shove his mother and he immediately went out.
He said he was lashed across his back with the chain by Rowley and he retaliated by picking up a knife that was close by.
Pilgrim stated that Rowley attacked him and he, in defence, knifed him in his neck and abdomen. He added that he disposed of the knife and left the yard.
Under cross-examination by attorney Hukumchand, Singh said he did not order Pilgrim to be examined by a doctor for the said injury. He said it was not needed, since he saw no signs of injury.
The state prosecutor also called several police who were present at the scene and at the post-mortem examination.
The trial continues today.
