Over 100 accused killers awaiting trial at Demerara High Court

More than 100 people charged with violent felonies – including 85 persons accused of murder and 19 of manslaughter – are awaiting trial before a judge and jury at the Demerara High Court. Even though the October session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes opened last Tuesday, it is still unclear when some of these accused persons would appear in court as only two Judges have been rostered to preside over cases.
Apart from sexual offences, the capital offence of murder accounts for the majority of the 341 cases that are listed for trial at this session. In Guyana, murder is among the very few offences for which bail is not granted to an accused person. This means that an accused person is remanded to prison until the hearing and determination of a Preliminary Inquiry, and in some cases, until their trial concludes.
There is a total of 61 murder cases for which 85 accused persons are waiting for the State to present the indictment against them. In some instances, up to three persons have been jointly charged. Manslaughter, on the other hand, is a bailable offence. Of the 19 persons awaiting trial for manslaughter, two of them are women – Dacia Bourne and Lisa Haley, who are charged separately for killing their reputed husbands.
Among those listed to be tried for the capital offence of murder is 51-year-old taxi driver Matthew Munroe, who is accused of murdering Kescia Branche, 23, a teacher at the Richard Ishmael Secondary. It is alleged that the teacher, a mother of one, was murdered between November 5 and November 7, 2017.
Branche, of Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, was discovered lying at the corner of Princes Street and Louisa Row in Georgetown on November 5, 2017. She was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she died two days later. Her cause of death was given as haemorrhage and blunt trauma to the head.
Meanwhile, the three men accused of gunning down Ganesh Ramlall, the owner of the Multiplex Mall in Georgetown, are also listed for trial. The three accused are Fazeel Bacchus, Lennox Roberts, and Kurt Erskine. The 48-year-old businessman was fatally shot on July 5, 2015, outside his La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD) home. Ramlall was reportedly shot five times about his body, including once to his head.
Reports are that the father of one had just returned home from a barbecue with friends when he proceeded to use an outdoor bathroom at his premises. As the man walked into his yard, four bandits opened fire on him before escaping with his jewellery and wallet.
Also awaiting trial for murder are Clifton Gibson, Linton Eastman, and Stancey Rodney. They are jointly charged with the murder of 27-year-old Rubis accountant Jason Cort, who was fatally shot by bandits on June 17, 2015, shortly after entering his Jamoon Drive, Meadowbrook Gardens, Georgetown home.
Several persons in his neighbourhood reportedly told Police that upon hearing loud explosions and looking outside, they saw three men jumping the fence to Cort’s yard and running up the road.
Other persons are to be tried for carnal knowledge, buggery, rape, indecent assault, sexual activity with a child family member, sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust, sexual assault, incest, attempt to commit murder, inflicting grievous bodily harm, narcotics trafficking, abduction, obtaining money by false pretence, conspiracy to commit a felony, robbery under arms, conspiracy to commit murder, accessory to murder, wrongful confinement for ransom, and receiving stolen property.