Defence calls for ‘not guilty’ verdict; Prosecution-‘guilty’
JUSTICE James Bovell-Drakes, the trial judge in the Parika triple murder case, will sum up the evidence to the mixed jury today, after which he will hand over the case for their consideration and verdict.

Following the final addresses to the jury yesterday, by the defence and the prosecution, the judge admonished the jury to keep an open mind until they have heard him and the case is handed over to them .

The prosecution, as conducted by lawyers Prithima Kissoon and Zamilla Alli, is contending that following a misunderstanding between the accused Arshad Ali, called ‘George’, and his wife Onika, he doused a one-room cottage at Parika Backdam, where eight persons resided, and then set the house afire, causing the death of three.

Dead are Victoria Benjamin, 65, and her grandchildren, Divika Bowling three, and Anida Bowling, two. A post mortem showed that death was due to smoke inhalation .

Accused, represented by Mr. Bernard, De Santos, S.C., had pleaded innocent.

However, conflict defences showed that the accused, who registered an alibi defence in the High Court, had also made a confession statement to the police, which he strenuously denied in the High Court.

Defence counsel Mr. De Santos described the confession as a fabrication by the Police conspirators in the case who were out to get a conviction by hook or by crook.

Counsel in his address to the jury urged them to reject that confession outright and suggested that only mad people would do such a dastardly act as burning down a house without a motive.

For the defence yesterday, Mr. De Santos called West Demarara Doctor Bhesian Hari to introduce new evidence that showed that prior to the crime in 2006, the accused had suffered a stroke in 2004 which left him with slurred speech and mentally incapacitated.

The doctor said that he had seen the accused about five times and had given him necessary treatment.

According to the doctor, the accused had made remarkable progress in relation to his physical condition; but in relation to his mental condition, the accused needed to be in a quiet and peaceful environment, if success is to be achieved.

In her final address to the jury, Prosecutor Prithima Kissoon called upon the jury to find that the prosecution had made out a case against the accused for the offence as charged, and declared that the only true verdict would be one of guilty
The judge will sum up the evidence to the jury today.