ERROL Williams called ‘Short Man’ on Tuesday changed his plea from not guilty of murder to guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and will return to the Georgetown High Court before Justice James Bovell-Drakes on October 24, 2017 at 09:00hrs for a probation report followed by sentencing.

However, the state has accepted his plea.

According to the state’s case, Mandel Moore told the court that on September 15, 2009 at Lot 99 Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara, the deceased, Patrick Daly, was in the outdoor toilet in his yard when the accused Errol Williams and two other men living in the same yard and armed with cutlasses and other weapons, began banging on the toilet door.

He related that eventually the men wrenched open the toilet door and the deceased ran out after which the accused and the two other men went after him and the accused started to chop the deceased about the body with a cutlass.

Moore stated that the accused then ran away from the scene, but was subsequently arrested about six years later in June 2015.

The prosecutor told the court that the body of Patrick Daly bore seven incised wounds, six to the left side of the body and one on top of the head which was caused by a sharp, heavy instrument.

The cause of death was given as haemorrhage and shock due to multiple incised wounds.

According to defence attorney Maxwell McKay, the accused was 34 years old and had no previous convictions.

Justice Bovell-Drakes then instructed the 12-member jury to return a not-guilty verdict for the offence of murder, after which they were discharged.