SEVEN years after a deadly boat accident claimed the lives of ten civilians in the Mazaruni River, two boat captains were, on Tuesday, freed by a jury at the Essequibo High Court.
Devon Thomas, called “Beast” and Cabesh Persaud, called “Dube” were on trial before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall on ten counts of manslaughter which alleged that, on January 22, 2013, in the county of Essequibo, they unlawfully killed Deon Moses, Ulrick Grimes, Christopher Ramnarine, Zahir Baksh; Brazilian national Francisco Olivera Alves, Kevon Ambrose, Keanu Amsterdam and his brother, Ricky Bobb; Jermanie Calisto, and Jewan Seeram.
The jury, after deliberating for two hours, found Thomas and Persaud not guilty of the ten counts of manslaughter. The state’s case was presented by prosecutor Tiffini Lyken, while the duo was represented by attorneys-at-law Dexter Todd and Roger Yearwood.
According to reports on the day in question, Thomas was the captain of the vessel called ‘Matheran’ which had 13 persons aboard, while Persaud was the captain of the vessel called ‘Dube’ which had six passengers. The vessels, which were traversing in full throttle, collided at Crab Falls in the Mazaruni River which led to the death of the ten passengers.