Reg 1 man acquitted of 2016 murder at Perseverance Backdam

Adrian John who was accused of committing a capital murder over six years ago has finally been freed, after a jury on Thursday declared him not guilty.
Reportedly in his early 20s, John was found not guilty of both the capital charge of murder and the lesser charge of manslaughter, the jury having returned a unanimous not guilty verdict in both cases.
This former resident of Gold Mine, Matthews Ridge, Region One (Barima-Waini) had been on trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the High Court in Demerara, accused of killing Orville Williams on September 8, 2016 at Perseverance Backdam, North West District, Region One.
As she typically does with those found not guilty of heinous crimes, Justice Barlow encouraged John to view his acquittal as an additional chance to “make a man of yourself”.

“You still look pretty much like a boy. You have an opportunity to learn something. It’s never too late to learn to read and write. Make somebody of yourself. If you see trouble coming, run from it; don’t run after it”, the Judge advised the former murder accused.
Inquiries revealed that the men were at a camp at Perseverance when Williams reportedly choked a nine-year-old girl. Her parents had intervened after it was brought to their attention.
However, John and another man, Allen Fredericks, who has been charged with the same murder and is currently on remand awaiting trial, allegedly carried Williams to a camp, where they beat and hanged him.
Fredericks was charged with Williams’s murder in February 2018, while John was arraigned before a magistrate one week after the unlawful killing.