GEORGETOWN: Medical Officer Dr. Mahadeo yesterday testified that medical attention given to injured taxi driver Joel Mc Curdy was what had saved the chauffeur’s life.

Mc Curdy was taking the accused, Eon Collins, from Parika, East Bank Essequibo to Georgetown, on a hire trip on June 27, 2014, when Collins allegedly stabbed him in the chest in a murder attempt.

Mc Curdy told the judge and jury that he fell out of his car while trying to fight off his attacker, who was trying to steal his taxi, when a gang of construction workers came to his assistance.

He was taken to the hospital, while Eon Collins was taken to the police station, and was later charged with attempted murder following police investigations.

Mc Curdy, who celebrated his 39th birth anniversary yesterday, had earlier testified that it was the expertise of the doctor that saved his life, after he developed a complaint from the stab wound in the left chest, which caused intestinal problems.

The prosecution has closed its case, and the accused, Collins, who is on bail, is expected to lead a defence.

Mc Curdy was testifying against Collins when he explained that Collins had hired him from outside the Demico business place in Georgetown, and was heading for Parika, Essequibo; but at Tuschen, he pointed to a village street, where he pulled a knife and attacked him.

After members of the jury had been selected, but without any evidence being taken, the prosecution, led by Miss Tamieka Clarke and Miss Tuanna Hardy, requested a voir dire (a trial within a trial) to determine the admissibility of a caution statement which the accused had given to the police. The statement in the voir dire was found to be freely and voluntarily given to the police.

The accused is conducting his own defence.