The Potaro shopkeeper who was accused of shooting another man in his ankle appeared again at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday where he pleaded not guilty to the summary charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm and discharging a loaded firearm.

Royston Jerome

Royston Jerome of 767 One Mile, Wismar, Linden was further remanded to prison shortly after Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson read the charges to him.

He denied that he unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm on Anzel Marcello and discharged a loaded firearm at him with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or cause him actual bodily harm on May 28 at Potaro, Essequibo.

Marcello, who was also present in court, stated that on the day in question he entered Jerome’s shop and ordered a bottle of Guinness. He said that afterwards he paid for it.

He went on to say that the bartender offered him several other beverages on credit and he accepted.
Marcello further stated that in the shop he saw a woman and  shortly after they had begun a conversation Jerome approached them and asked, “wah yuh doing wid meh wife?”

He said that an argument ensued between him and Jerome and he ran out of the shop. He said that Jerome ran behind him and he took the bottle of Guinness that he had and pelted it at him. He said that the bottle struck  Jerome in his  face and he attempted to flee the scene once more but Jerome drew a gun and shot at him.

Adrian Thompson, Jerome’s lawyer, stated that from information gathered Marcello was under the influence of alcohol and so he didn’t really know who shot him. He said that although his client was a licensed firearm holder, “my client would not put himself in jeopardy for six thousand dollars.” He noted that was the amount  Marcello had owed his client for the beverages he had taken on credit at the shop.

Thompson then requested that the court take into consideration that Marcello had stated  he had been running away from the shop when he was shot.

The lawyer reasoned that “he (Marcello) doesn’t have eyes behind his head to see who shot him.”
Prosecutor Dennise Griffith also stated that Marcello did not know who shot him. The police then stated, however, that Marcello may have thought that Jerome had shot him because he had seen Jerome putting a gun in his pants waist.

The magistrate subsequently ordered that Jerome be further remanded to prison as investigations in the matter continue. The case was transferred to Court Three for June 22.