Accused’s caution statement blamed other man for murder of taxi driver

The trial of Louis Lancaster at the High Court for the murder of a taxi driver yesterday saw the caution statement he gave to the police, which implicated another person, admitted as evidence.

Lancaster is on trial before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury for the murder of Vibert Assanah, which occurred on October 26, 2008, on Bent Street. It is alleged that Lancaster and a male accomplice murdered Assanah, who was an ex-police officer, by stabbing him in the shoulder with a knife that punctured a major artery.

Vibert Assanah
Vibert Assanah

In his caution statement, Lancaster told police that he and another man, identified only as “Mike,” hired Assanah’s taxi from the hospital to travel to East Ruimveldt. He said that he was in the front seat of the car while Mike was in the backseat.  On their way to their destination, he said Mike inquired from Assanah the cost for the drop and Assanah replied $400, at which point Mike told him that he only paid $300 for short drops.

Lancaster said the cab driver then drove onto Bent Street, where he told Mike that if he was not going to pay $400 then he should get out of the car immediately. “Mike said to him he is not coming out the car, that the driver would have to take us back to the hospital where he collected us from,” he told the police.

He added that an argument then ensued between Assanah and Mike and as they continued to argue, the driver reached over to a pocket inside of the car and pulled out a knife. “I was trying to unbuckle my seat belt. Mike pull out a knife and punch the driver a couple a times and the driver was trying to defend himself. While this was going on I was trying to get out of the car,” Lancaster said, while adding that the driver stabbed him to the neck and he later tried to get a car to take him to the hospital as he was screaming for help.

Meanwhile, state prosecutors Konyo Thompson and Dhanika Singh presented three witnesses to the court at yesterday’s session.

One of the witnesses was ex-policeman Sherwlyn Brathwaite, who told the court that he was at the crime scene and took a statement from the accused.

Louis Lancaster
Louis Lancaster

Brathwaite said that on the day of the murder he saw Lancaster at the Georgetown Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for his injuries. He said that when he inquired from the accused how he sustained the injuries he had, the accused told him that he and another man—Mike—joined a car in the vicinity of the Georgetown Hospital. While they were travelling, he said, Mike and the driver were involved in an argument and Mike stabbed him. While the driver was defending himself, Lancaster said he got stabbed.

Defence counsel Peter Hugh cross-examined Brathwaite, who admitted that there was no evidence to contradict what the accused had said and that he believed what the accused told him in his statement.

The case will continue today with Thompson calling other witnesses. If these witnesses fail to turn up, she indicated that she will close the prosecution’s case.