30-Y-0 freed after serving six years on remand for murder

After serving six years on remand for the offence of murder, 30-year-old Desmond James walked out of the Demerara High Court a free man on Tuesday.

The charge against James of Hotoquai Creek, North West District was discharged after High Court Judge Justice Navindra Singh upheld a No-Case Submission made by his lawyer Mark Conway.

The Judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

James was on trial before a 12-member jury for the murder of Glendon Cox which occurred on September 1, 2014, at Four Miles Arakaka Backdam, in the North West District. He pleaded not guilty to the indictment.

A Police report stated that around 01:00h, on the day in question, Cox, 46, of Aberdeen on the Essequibo Coast, was involved in an argument with James when he was stabbed to death.

In 2017, James was one of six prisoners, who escaped from the Camp Street Penitentiary during the riots. He was later recaptured hiding in an abandoned shack at Canal Number One Polder, West Bank Demerara.