Suspect charged with trying to kill national footballer

Oswald Andrews, the man who police say is responsible for the stabbing of national footballer Rensford Coleridge, was yesterday charged with attempted murder.

The court of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan heard that on July 19, at Queen Street, South Cummingsburg, Oswald Andrews, 48, unlawfully and maliciously wounded Coleridge, with intent to commit murder.

Andrews, who entered the city courtroom with the aid of crutches, was not required to plead to the indictable charge.

Rensford Coleridge
Rensford Coleridge
Oswald Andrews
Oswald Andrews

Police prosecutor Deniro Jones objected to bail based on the gravity of the offence and the fact that Coleridge was still in the hospital. According to Jones, Coleridge was stabbed to the head, chest and shoulder.

The chief magistrate subsequently remanded Andrews to prison and fixed the next hearing for September 5 for report.

Coleridge, called ‘Baba,’ 28, a member of Western Tigers Football Club and of Queen Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown was stabbed around 9 pm on Tuesday.

He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he is still in a critical condition as he is semi-conscious and breathing through a ventilator. The suspect was taken into custody shortly after the attack.

Stabroek News had been told that Coleridge was sitting in front of a shop, located a short distance away from his home, watching television when the suspect, who was armed with a knife, confronted him and stabbed him several times about his body.