Prosecutor to call five witnesses in Maryann Daby trial

Sep 18, 2019 News

Police Prosecutor Richard Harris is expected to call five witnesses to testify against Maryann Daby, who is accused of being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

Maryann Daby

John Holder

The 25-year-old defendant of Lot 127 D’Aguiar Park, Houston, Georgetown, had pleaded not guilty to the two charges which stated that she had an unlicensed pistol and six live rounds on May 13, 2019, at Albert Street, Thomas Lands, Georgetown, while she was not the holder of a firearm licence enforced at the time.
Her case is being conducted in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.
Attorney-at-law Mark Waldron is representing the defendant in the case.
Two months ago Magistrate Daly discharged the case against Daby for attempted murder. She had been charged with the offence after it was alleged that she pulled a gun on a police officer in an attempt to shoot him on the same day and the same location as her other charges.
The case was discharged against her following a number of concerns raised during the Preliminary Inquiry.
Magistrate Daly ruled firstly on the main witness, John Holder, who gave conflicting statements to the court. The witness had confessed that he lied in his first statement when he said that he saw when Daby pointed the gun at Kissoon.
However, he claimed that this was not true and that was mentioned in his statement because a senior official of the force had asked him to change his statement. As a result, the magistrate disregarded Holder’s evidence.
Secondly, she pointed to the victim’s testimony. She said that Kissoon had admitted under cross-examination that on the day in question, he was being served drinks. He claimed that Daby had fired two shots; however, no spent shells were found at the scene.
The magistrate also added that Kissoon had admitted that there was no video to gain a positive identification of his attacker.
Finally, Magistrate Daly addressed the testimony of Superintendent Gary McAllister who gave evidence saying that he picked up two different firearms and ammunition in relation to the matter, and this caused her to question if indeed there was a weapon.
In his testimony, McAllister said that he brought one evidence bag from Brickdam Police Station marked GM 35AD2018 with one .32 Beretta pistol marked daa535775 with a magazine, along with four live .32 ammunition and two .32 spent shells.
Moreover, on another occasion, when the Superintendent showed up to tender the evidence as part of the prosecution’s case, he told the court that he uplifted the evidence bag with a magazine, four live rounds, and two .22 spent shells.
Based on these concerns, the magistrate found that there was insufficient evidence to rely on for her to rule in favour of the prosecution and she discharged the matter.
For the remaining charges against Daby, the matter was adjourned until September 25.
Daby is currently out on $750,000 High Court bail pending the hearing and determination of her matters before the court.
Meanwhile, in the courtroom of Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, Police Constable John Holder who was charged and released on $300,000 bail, was given another date to return to lead a defence into his matter.
He was charged for willfully attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to the Daby matter following his confession.
He was not required to plead to the charge, which stated that between August 10 and October 2, 2018, at Georgetown, he willfully attempted to pervert the course of justice by deviating from his statement dated May 13, 2018.
Holder’s matter is also being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. The case was adjourned as a result of the defendant suffering from conjunctivitis- commonly known as “Red Eye”. The matter was then adjourned to October 21, 2019.

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