The two men accused of killing Mohamed Abdool Shameer in a boat collision on the Pomeroon River several years ago walked out of the High Court in Essequibo yesterday as free men after a judge upheld a no-case submission made by their attorney.
In July 2017, Lennox Baharally and Rondell Edwards were initially charged with murdering Shameer.
However, following a Preliminary Inquiry before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Charity Magistrate’s Court, the charge was reduced to manslaughter and the men were committed to stand trial in the High Court.
They were on trial before Justice Sandra Kurtzious at the High Court in Suddie.
Subsequent to the state closing their case, the men’s attorney Jerome Khan submitted that the state had no case against his clients.
Khan argued that the state failed to show that they committed any unlawful act leading up to the accident. He further argued that the state failed to lead evidence that the men acted dangerously to themselves or the public or behaved in a negligent or reckless manner.
As a result, Justice Kurtzious upheld the submissions made by Khan.
A total of 17 witnesses testified during the trial.
Shameer, 58, was found some 60 miles from the scene of a boat crash, gutted and buried in a shallow grave.
The two men were later arrested and questioned about the matter and were later released on bail without charges being laid.
The investigation was later handed over to ranks in Georgetown.
A file was prepared after the investigation was completed and that along with a statement from the Maritime Administration Department was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who advised that the two men be charged with murder.
