As jury trials continued yesterday for a third day at the High Court in Georgetown after a hiatus since March over the coronavirus, Allan Sim was arraigned for the murder of Georgetown Public Hospital ambulance dispatcher Melissa Skeete.
He faced the jury yesterday charged with the capital offence which alleges that on November 23rd, 2015, at Carmichael Street, Georgetown, he murdered Skeete, with whom he once shared a relationship. From the Lusignan Prison where he attended the hearing virtually, Sim pleaded not guilty to the charge for which he is on trial before Justice Navindra Singh.
Among those who testified yesterday was Detective Sergeant Hamlet Da Silva who told the court the Sim had been placed on an identification (ID) parade at which he was picked out by a witness.
Da Silva said that Sim had no objections to being placed on the parade, but noted that he resolutely remained silent whenever the allegation was put to him. Defence attorney Adrian Thompson had taken issue with the manner in which the parade was conducted, advancing that it flouted required procedures for ensuring that there were similar physical features and general appearance to the other persons placed on the parade with that of his client. On this point Thompson pointed out that some of the persons placed on the parade wore clothing and their hair, different to that of the accused; and that there was also a variation in the age-ranges to his client who was 55 at the time. Also testifying was Michael La Cruz who said that he saw Skeete who was screaming for “help,” running from Church Street onto Carmichael Street where she collapsed at an electrical pole a short distance from the building where he still works as a Security Guard.
He told the court he observed the woman to be bleeding from her neck.
Like Da Silva had testified, Police Sergeant Jomo Williams in his testimony to the court said that he, too, had put the allegation to Sim who at all times remained silent.
He said that he had put the allegation to Sim twice—both times in the presence of his attorney, and he invoked his right to remain silent.
Skeete’s cousin Janelle Skeete, in her testimony told the court that there were problems between her cousin and the accused with whom she severed the relationship four months before her death. Prior to 2015, Janelle said that Sim and her cousin shared a relationship for about two to three years, and they had one child together. Skeete was 31 years old at the time of her death.
The trial continues on Monday morning at 9.
