By Malisa Playter Harry
A 37-year-old man was on Wednesday freed of an attempted murder charge when he appeared at the Berbice High Court before Her Worship Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and a mixed jury. It was alleged that Vedanand Chander of Lot 23, Section A, Number 71 Village was accused of attempted to murder Chabbidat Tejram of Number 71 Village, on October 16, 2012.
Chander who was represented by Attorney-at-law, Mursalin Bacchus and Perry Gosai, was found not guilty after an hour of deliberation by the jurors.
The court heard that Tejram was working on a bench at the front of his yard when the accused rode past him on a bicycle and muttered something to Tejram after which he responded. It is alleged that the response upset Chander after which he returned with a chisel and injured the defendant.
The state called a total of five witnesses to the stand during the trial.
Testifying during the trial on the state’s behalf was Latchmannarine Ramsundar, Neighborhood Police, who stated that on the day in question he was patrolling the area when he saw a large gathering of people. Upon inquiring, he observed Tejram holding a cloth to his armpit and the accused standing with a chisel in his hands.
The neighborhood police stated that he collected the chisel and handed it over to the police and both men were arrested and taken to the Springlands Police Station.
Also testifying was Dr. Ryan Campbell, who examined Tejram at the Skeldon Public Hospital. According to him, during his examination, he saw a stab wound on Tejram’s armpit measuring about four centimetres.
Tejram in his evidence explained that sometime around 18:00 hrs on the day in question, he was tiling a bench in his front yard when Chander rode past on a bicycle and called him a deportee and reportedly cautioned him that he would be back. However, according to Tejram, he was not paying much attention after which he spotted Chander coming towards him with something in his hand. He stated that it was that object that the man used to inflict the wound.
Chander’s legal team questioned Tejram, during which he denied calling the accused any false names.
Meanwhile, the defence called one witness, the Clerk of the Springlands Magistrate’s Court to tender a case jacket to show that the defendant and others were charged with assaulting him on the day in question.
Chander gave an unsworn statement where he maintained his innocence and denied the accusation. He denied calling the defendant a deportee and stated that it was the defendant who pelted him with a brick, after which the became involved in an argument which then led to a scramble. He said he received injuries to his elbow from falling to the ground.
