A 35-year-old miner appeared on Monday before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for the alleged murder of a colleague during a misunderstanding over cigarettes.
Particulars of the charge detail that last Tuesday at Barakat Backdam on the Mazaruni River, Parsaram Ramnauth of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, murdered another miner named Daniel George.

Ramnauth, who was unrepresented, is claiming self-defence, saying: “Is four men bank meh; all meh eye black-and-blue.”

According to police, George and Ramnauth were drinking at a shop when an argument broke out between them over cigarettes.

In the end, Ramnauth apparently got the upper hand as he fatally stabbed George in the abdomen and right eye with a knife.

Ramnauth was remanded prison and the matter adjourned until October 31.