THE jury in the Lusignan murder  trial  yesterday found the  27-year-old accused Ramchand Persaud, called ‘Boyo’ or ‘Hunter’, not guilty  of murder as well as the lesser count of manslaughter.

Presiding judge, Justice Navindra Singh told the freed man: “The jury have found you not  guilty, you are free to go.”
Ramchand, who was defended by Attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat left the  dock like a man in a hurry and was followed by a small unhappy  looking crowd that had gathered in the courtroom.
The previous day the judge had overruled  defence no-case submissions and called on the 27-year-old accused  for a defence.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, the defence counsel had called upon the judge to find that the  prosecution had failed to make out a case against the accused and suggested that her client  be freed at  that stage without  being called upon for a defence.
After listening to legal arguments in the absence of the  jury, the judge ruled that the matter complained about was  a question of fact for the jury to decide.
The accused  began  his defence  by   giving a  sworn statement from the witness box, relying on the confession statement he gave to the  police in which he said that Victor Anthony  Persaud, called ‘Toney’,  had attempted to rob him that night on  October 12th  2009,  when he  grabbed  the wood that the now deceased man had  aimed as a   blow at him.
The accused had said that he grabbed the wood from ‘Toney’, and dealt him a single blow on his head.
The accused  in his confession statement said that he had  given the accused a single blow  before running  away to his home at Lusignan.
He learnt the next day from the police that ‘Toney’ had died and had received at least three blows with  the  wood, which was left on the road not far  from a mountain climber bicycle. The prosecution earlier had said  the bicycle was unclaimed but later admitted  it was the property of the deceased.
Prosecutor  Renita Singh who conducted the case in association  with  Rhondel Weever  had asked the jury  to believe that the accused  lied when he spoke  of the  one-blow incident and that the deceased was attempting to rob him.
According to her, the intention  of the accused was to get the jury to falsely believe that someone  else had  beaten the deceased after he  allegedly ran away.
On the resumption yesterday, defence counsel Rahamat and lead prosecutor Singh addressed the jury.
Later the  judge  summed  up the   evidence to the jury, after which he handed over the case to them for their consideration and verdict.
The jury took less than two hours to reach their unanimous  verdict of not guilty regarding  both murder and the lesser count of manslaughter.