THE charge against a 36-year-old man for setting a house on fire was dismissed yesterday by Magistrate Fabayo Azore.

Philip Saul Drepaul, of Lot 55 Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, Georgetown, had been accused of committing the offence on April 28 but the Court found that the identification evidence, from behind a seven- foot high fence, was poor.
The case was first called on May 2 and it was alleged that, on April 28, at East La Penitence Squatting Area, also in Georgetown, the defendant set ablaze the building belonging to Godfrey Stuart.
Police Corporal Renetta Bentham, prosecuting, had said on Saturday, April 27, about 16:00 hrs the owner secured his premises and left for work. Some hours later, his sister, Sieta O’Donoghue, who lives about 20 feet away, saw Drepaul setting the house afire and raised an alarm.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) and the police were informed and, subsequently, Drepaul was arrested.
He was originally on $250,000 bail and although the surety was later reduced to $100,000, he remained in custody since he could not afford to post the sum.
Eventually, the prosecution was done by Police Sergeant Ramsahoye Rambajue.