Former President of the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) Colwyn King was on Friday freed of a rape charge. King was accused of having sexual relations with a teenage girl at a Princes Street Hotel in 2009. On October 28, 2011, he was ordered to stand trial at the High Court, after being released on 0,000 bail.
The trial which commenced on April 5, was held before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and saw eight witnesses testifying against King.
King was found not guilty by a 12-member mixed jury on a charge of carnal knowledge of a girl. After over two hours of deliberation by the jury, the verdict was given in a proportion of 10-2. After the verdict was delivered, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry told King, “You escaped from the law today but you can’t escape from God.” The State was represented by Attorneys Narissa Leander and Tuanna Hardy while King was represented by Attorney Darren Wade.
King was forced to resign from his post of President of the GTU and Administrator of the Guyana Industrial Training Centre, when he was arrested after the teenage levied the rape allegation against him. However, throughout his prosecution, King maintained his innocence.