Ex-prisoner among two charged with murder of Timehri man

Two young men, including a former prison escape, were remanded to prison on Wednesday for the murder of 24-year-old Lawrence Raymond Benjamin who was stabbed to death on April 5 at Timehri, East Bank Demerara.

Winston Long, a 22-year—old farmer and former prison escapee along with 19-year-old Jeremy Small, a labourer – both of Timehri – appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Diamond/Golden Grove Magistrates’ Court Wednesday.

They were remanded to prison until May 27, 2020.

Long is a known character who has served time in prison. In August 2018, he was remanded on two armed robbery charges five months after he was released from prison.

Long was among the 13 prisoners who had escaped from the Lusignan Prison on July 24, 2017.  He was sentenced to one-year jail after pleading guilty to the charge and was released from prison on March 11, 2018.

The News Room had reported that Long and Small had confessed to stabbing Benjamin under a shed in the community in the vicinity of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

The young father of one was found covered in a pool of blood in a white plastic chair