The five men who were on board a boat that crashed into another vessel along the Upper Berbice River, resulting in the deaths of four men, were yesterday jointly charged with manslaughter.
The accused are: Marvin Kissoon, 39, a fisherman of Lot 8 Sheet Anchor Village, East Canje Berbice; Kevin Archer, 20, a labourer of Maria Henrietta Village, Berbice River; Carl Williams, 51, fisherman of Lot 6 Adelphi Settlement, East Canje Berbice; and Netram Punwasie, 38, a carpenter and Ramnarine Punwasie, 23, a labourer, both of Lot 12 Palmyra Village, Corentyne.
They all appeared yesterday at the Linden Magistrate’s Court, where they were jointly charged with unlawfully killing Julian Mc Kenzie, Romario Denhart, Godfrey Denhart and Kidman Lindie on Tuesday April 28, 2020, at Sandhill Village, Berbice River.
The accused, who appeared before Magistrate Wanda Fortune, were not required to enter a plea to the charge and were remanded to prison.
They are due to face another hearing on June 19 at the Kwakwani Magistrate’s Court.
The four deceased were heading further up the Berbice River when the boat with the five accused, who were allegedly transporting cannabis at the time, collided with their vessel.
Stabroek News was told that the five men subsequently sped off in their vessel, named ‘Guidance,’ without rendering assistance.
In a statement police had said that Kissoon, who was the captain of ‘Guidance,’ was proceeding north while the deceased were proceeding south in their boat.
Kissoon told investigators that he saw Denhart’s boat approaching and to avoid a collision he pulled east but the other captain also pulled east at the same time, causing the boats to collide and capsize.
The police said Kissoon and his companions re-entered their boat and escaped after they realised that the occupants of the other boat did not surface.
The missing men’s wooden boat was destroyed as a result of the collision.
After news of the collision broke, residents rushed to the area with a boat and found slippers and other belongings of the missing men floating.
The bodies of the four men were discovered by police some 55 miles up the Berbice River between Katabali and Friendship during searches that were done one day after the crash.
The bodies were positively identified by relatives of the deceased at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Autopsies done revealed that Lindee died from drowning compounded by multiple injuries, while McKenzie and Godfrey died from multiple injuries and Romario died from a fractured spine.
On April 30, the five accused were jointly charged with possession of narcotics for trafficking at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court. It was alleged that on April 28 at Edinburgh Village, East Bank Berbice, they had 35 kilogrammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking in their possession.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charge and were remanded to prison on that charge as well.
