Demerara October Assizes opens

…set to draw high-profile cases

The judicial backlog is slated to see a reduction as the October Criminal Assizes opened at the Demerara High Court on Tuesday with traditional horsemen and marching policemen. It is expected that several high-profile cases currently before the court could come up for hearing.
Acting Chief Justice Roxane George, the High Court’s most senior judge, was on

hand to take the salute and to inspect the guard of honour at the final opening of the Demerara Criminal Assizes for 2018. Justice Sandil Kissoon is sitting once again in the Demerara High Court, while Justices Jo-Ann Barlow and James Bovell-Drakes have been also placed at the October session.
Several high-profile matters are pending, including the case of former Bishops’ High School teacher Coen Jackson and popular transgender personality Otis “Otisha” Pearson who were separately committed to stand trial for separate charges of sexual activity with a child under 16. In the case of Jackson, the Virtual Complainant is female while Pearson’s accuser is male.
Another pending case relates to that of La Parfaite Harmonie pastor Joseph Persaud, who was accused of allegedly raping one of his female church members. High-profile death row inmate for the 2008 Bartica massacre, Mark Royden Williams, called Smallie, also has to be tried for his alleged involvement in the murder of Kumar Singh, known as “Mango Man”, who met his demise in August 2007.
It was reported that four gunmen terrorised his Craig Milne, Cove and John, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home and shot at the man and nine other family members. This case was scheduled to be heard at previous sessions, but was frequently delayed owing to pre-trial matters.