South Ruimveldt man freed of murder charge
Jamal Forde
Jamal Forde

A MAN who was on trial for the 2015 murder of ‘D’ Field Sophia shopkeeper Shawn Anys, was on Tuesday acquitted by a mixed 12-member jury on the direction of High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon.

Jamal Forde of South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was charged with killing Ayns on May 1, 2015 at ‘D’ Field, Sophia, during the course or furtherance of a robbery.
The trial commenced on November 26, 2019, with evidence being led by State Prosecutors Mandel Moore and Abigail Gibbs. Forde was represented by attorneys-at-law Ronald Burch-Smith and Keoma Griffith.

The attorneys made a no-case submission calling for the charge to be dismissed, since they argued that the prosecution had failed to make a case against Forde. The attorneys also noted that the evidence did not show how Forde was picked up and placed on an identification parade; further, there were several discrepancies in the identification of their client and the alleged eye-witness in the trial was unable to give a proper description of Anys’ killer.

Justice Kissoon ruled in favour of the no-case submission and directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.

According to reports, Anys, who owned and managed a small grocery shop at his home, was confronted by the bandits just before 23:00hrs. The man was in his home when he heard his dogs barking and decided to venture out of the house to investigate.
He was then confronted by two armed men who forced him into the house and shot him while demanding money and valuables. The gunmen made off with $40,000 in cash along with jewellery.

Anys was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Following police investigation in 2016, Forde was arrested along with Odel Roberts, of Sophia.

Roberts is currently on remand awaiting hearing at the High Court for Anys murder.

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