WHAT can be regarded as an unprecedented athletic event occurred at the Demerara Assizes yesterday afternoon shortly after 29-year-old Fernando Cush, called ‘Nando’  was freed by the jury for the murder of his uncle Andrew Benjamin, called ‘Mongoose’. ‘Nando’ left the courtroom like a sprinter out of the starting blocks, leaving spectators amazed to see that just minutes before he was a prisoner in the shadow of  death for the alleged murder of his uncle ‘Mongoose’.
What could be regarded as the pistol shot that  sparked off the event  was contained in words of advice from the presiding  judge, Justice Navindra Singh who after recording the jury’s  verdict had the following advice  for the freed prisoner: “When you see trouble – don’t only run, but run fast.”
As if propelled by the words of wisdom,   Fernando leapt from the dock at the Demerara Assizes like Usain Bolt leaving the Olympics starting blocks.
Spectators in the courtroom and persons in the  precincts of the court looked on  with surprise as he sprinted from the court to South Road and  then turned to Wellington Street where he disappeared from sight.        
        
ROW ERUPTED IN FIGHT AND MURDER        
According to the court report,  Justice Navindra Singh and a mixed  jury at the Demerara Assizes yesterday heard how  Fernando Cush stabbed  his uncle Andrew Benjamin called ‘Mongoose’ to death on June 24, 2009.
According to the witnesses, the trouble started when the two men who were armed, ‘Nando’  with a  knife and  ‘Mongoose’ with a cutlass, were engaged  in a heated argument that erupted  in a  fight that ended in death of the uncle.
The accused, it is said, also received  injuries that caused the police to take  him to hospital, but according to that  policeman the injuries  were related to  a wound on the forehead and the other on the little finger of his right hand.
That policeman could not say when the accused was discharged from the hospital and the extent of  his  injuries, but admitted under  cross-examination by defence  counsel Mr. Peter Hugh, that the entire face of the accused was swollen.
Attorney Mrs. Tashana Lake conducted the case for the prosecution while the defence counsel was Mr. Peter Hugh.
Police witness Ricardo Innis who had interviewed the accused told the judge and jury that after  he told  the accused about the allegation that he  had stabbed his uncle in the abdomen thereby causing his death, the accused replied:  “Me and my uncle had a fight and he fell down on the ground. I did not kill him.”
Innis said that he also asked the accused how he received those injuries and the accused replied: “Me and my uncle had a fight and he beat me up and chop me on my forehead.”
A witness said that he escorted the accused to the Georgetown Hospital where he was admitted a patient in Ward 8.
Andrew Greaves who testified that he was a police officer also gave evidence for the prosecution.
He said that he knew Andrew Benjamin called ‘Mongoose’.  He was his neighbour.  He also knew the accused Fernando Cush, called ‘Nando’. He knew him by seeing him around in the district.
The witness recalled that on the 24th of March, 2009, he was at his home watching television when he was attracted by a loud argument outside.
He looked outside and observed that the noise was being made by two men – Andrew Benjamin and Fernando Cush who were quarrelling.
According to him, Benjamin had a cutlass in his hand while Fernando was armed with what appeared to be a knife.
He was in his verandah about 200 yards away from the men and therefore could only conclude   it was a knife because what he saw appeared to be a  shiny blade. However, while they were quarrelling they moved out of his sight and he could not see them anymore, so he went back to the hall of his building as the men began fighting outside.
As a consequence he could not tell who injured whom.
After summing up the evidence yesterday the judge handed over the case to the jury for their consideration and verdict.