“Birdman” acquitted of murder in shooting to death of mechanic

A man accused of fatally shooting another man walked out of the Demerara High Court a free man on Friday after a Judge upheld a no-case submission made on his behalf by his attorney-at-law.

Following the submission presented by defence lawyer, Ravindra Mohabir, Justice Brassington Reynolds directed the 12-member jury to formally return a verdict of not guilty in favour of Sedley Liverpool.
Also known as “Birdman”, Liverpool had been accused of the June 1, 2015 murder of Mocha, East Bank Demerara (EBD) mechanic, 23-year-old Terrence Lanferman, who was gunned down at his home.
Liverpool was arraigned last month before the Judge and pleaded not guilty to a charge for the capital offence. His trial later commenced, with lead prosecutor, State Counsel Seeta Bishundial calling 15 witnesses.
In 2019, Liverpool’s cousin, Kenkossie Lynch, was found guilty of Lanferman’s murder and was sentenced to 75 years in prison.

Reports are that there had been a feud between Liverpool and Lanferman. At some point, Lynch and his cousin reportedly met and conspired to attack Lanferman, after which they visited his home on a motorcycle.
It has been reported that Lynch went to Lanferman’s home armed with a gun that his cousin had given to him. While Lynch was at the home, his cousin allegedly waited for him some distance away.
Lynch knocked on the door and confronted Lanferman, who had opened the door, and he shot Lanferman before making good his escape.
Lynch has since filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence in which he argues that the trial Judge Navindra Singh made several errors in law. He argues, too, that the Judge failed to adequately put his defence to the jury, and that the jail sentence is manifestly excessive.

Meanwhile, at a sentencing hearing, Justice Singh had told Lynch that he murdered a man he did not know and with whom he had had no problem.
“This was a premeditated crime…you staked out and waited on the opportune time to kill this man,” the Judge had said to the convicted killer. (G1)