The man accused of beating miner Refford Williams to death with a piece of metal pipe was yesterday remanded to prison after being arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on a murder charge.
The charge against Michael Britton, 32, called “Rasta Man” and “Mickey” is that on July 25 at 10 Miles Backdam, Port Kaituma, North West District, he murdered Williams.
Britton, of Lot 9 Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, was not required to enter a plea to the capital offence of murder when it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
He was unrepresented by an attorney.
Prosecutor Bharrat Mangru, who presented the police’s case against Britton, said that both parties were employed as miners at the same gold mining camp. According to Mangru, on the day of the murder, they were involved in a heated argument and the defendant armed himself with a piece of metal pipe, with which he dealt Williams a lash to his left rib cage.
The court heard that the accused then fled the scene, while the injured Williams, who had collapsed, was picked up by persons present and rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
A post-mortem examination conducted on the body of Williams, 26, revealed that he died as a result of a ruptured spleen due to blunt trauma.
Britton was remanded to prison until August 6, when the case will be called at the Matthews Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
