AFTER spending the last four years on remand, Joshua Meredith on Friday threw himself at the mercy of the court and confessed to fatally shooting Gregory Garraway during a robbery in 2016.

Meredith, formerly of Warlock, East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was charged for the capital offence of murder.
When his case was called before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on Friday, he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, which alleged that at Wings and Things Bar, on Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, he unlawfully killed Garraway.

According to the case facts, on the night of October 2, 2016, at about 01:45hrs, Garraway was at ‘Wings and Things’, and at the time wearing two gold chains around his neck, when Meredith sought to relieve him of them.

During the scuffle that ensued, Meredith reportedly pulled out a firearm and shot Garraway, who fell to the ground while he made good his escape with the jewellery.
Garraway was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he would eventually die some nine days later.
According to the post mortem, he died of “septic shock as a result of gunshot injuries to the abdomen”.

Meredith was later arrested after being pointed out during an identification parade by Garraway’s brother who had witnessed the robbery.
During the court hearing on Thursday, Meredith’s attorney, Adrian Thompson, asked the court to temper justice with mercy.

In his plea of mitigation, Thompson asked the court to consider that Meredith did not have a good childhood, and was influenced by the neighbourhood in which he lived.
Justice Sewnarine-Beharry has deferred sentencing until December 16, so as to allow for a probation report to be prepared for Meredith. The State is represented by Prosecutor Nafeeza Baig.