Demerara Criminal Assizes open this morning- 155 sexual offences cases for trial

Apr 02, 2019 News

The April session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes is scheduled to open this morning at the High Court in Georgetown. Of the 259 cases listed for trial, 155 are for sexual offences including rape, sexual

Coen Jackson

activity with a child under 16 years, carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 years, buggery, incest by male, sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust, and indecent assault on female.
Among those to be tried for sexual offences include Muslim scholar Neezam Ali and former Bishops’ High School teacher, Coen Jackson.
Last month, Ali was sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment after a jury found him unanimously guilty of one of nine indictments for sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust.
Ali was found guilty of engaging in anal penetration with one of nine underage age boys who took Quran and Arabic lessons from him at a Mosque located on the East Coast of Demerara.
Meanwhile, Jackson is accused of having sexual contact with one of his underage students. The incident is said to have occurred at D’Urban Street, Lodge, Georgetown, during December 2010 and May 2011.
Jackson was charged and placed before the Magistrates’ Court and was released on $300,000 bail pending trial.
The cases will be tried in the specialized sexual offences courtroom. The courtroom which is housed in Court 6 is equipped with two screens and a digital audio recording system for easy access to transcripts of the proceedings.
Members of the public and reporters are barred from entering the courtroom during trial stage in keeping with some of the best practices for prosecuting sexual offences cases. Entry is only allowed when the jury returns after deliberation, followed by the sentencing stage.
Also in the session, there are 55 cases for murder, 17 for attempt to commit murder and 13 for manslaughter. There are also a few more cases for wounding with intent, abduction with intent to hold for ransom, robbery under-arms, trafficking in narcotics, obtaining money by false pretence, conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact to murder, among others.
This is according to the list published in the daily newspapers by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Judicature (High Court), Mrs. Sueanna Lovell.

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