City Constable who shot and killed vendor in 2018 freed

A 55-year-old Lance Corporal attached to the City Constabulary, was on Friday freed of the 2018 fatal shooting of a vendor, due to insufficient evidence.

Gregory Bascom of Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, Georgetown was on trial before Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Demerara High Court for manslaughter.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charge which read that on January 14, 2018, at Regent Road, Bourda, he unlawfully killed 34-year-old Marlon Fredericks.

He was out on $800,000 bail since being charged in 2018.

Bascom was represented by attorney-at-law Yuborn Allicock, who made a no-case submission.

The attorney argued that the defence had no case to answer since the prosecutor failed to establish a case against his client.

Justice Sewnarine-Beharry agreed with the no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

On January 13, 2018, Fredericks of Tiger Bay, Georgetown, was apprehended by officers from the City Constabulary for a number of simple larceny transgressions during which he was severely beaten and assaulted.

Fredericks was kept in custody at the Bourda City Constabulary Outpost and it is alleged that on January 14, he attempted to flee custody when he was shot. Fredericks was unarmed.

His mother, Claudette Fredericks, had gone to visit him when she witnessed the shooting.

A post-mortem revealed that the cause of death was due to complications to his lower back as a result of a gunshot wound.

Fredericks was the only son of Claudette Fredericks, who is the host and producer of popular morning programme First Look.