A FATHER of six, who was on remand since 2017 for the murder of his neighbour, was on Monday, freed by the Demerara High Court, after Justice Navindra Singh upheld a no-case submission made by his attorney, Siand Dhurjon.  Sheldon Bowen called ‘Muslim’ formerly of Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was charged with murdering 44-year-old Mark Ifill called ‘Yankee’, on April 25, 2017, at Bagotstown.  The trial commenced before a 12-member jury with the testimonies of nine

witnesses. After the final witness testified, state prosecutors Tyra Bakker and Teriq Mohammed closed their case.   Dhurjon then argued that the State did not have enough evidence to prosecute his client and so he made a no-case submission calling for the case to be dismissed.

Justice Singh ruled in favour of the submission and directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. The Guyana Chronicle had reported that the two men, who were neighbours at the time, had a heated argument over the removal of a Guyana Water Inc. water pipe on the day in question. The argument soon turned into a physical altercation, during which Bowen reportedly dealt Ifill a blow to the head with an object; residents quickly intervened and parted the fight. However, it was reported that Bowen returned shortly after and allegedly stabbed Ifill to the chest. Ifill collapsed. A team of medical personnel from the Georgetown Public Hospital was summoned and pronounced Ifill dead.