Rickardo Maniram, called ‘Rocky,’ was yesterday acquitted in the rape a 16-year-old girl who prosecutors say he had also impregnated.
Maniram’s defence, advanced by his attorney, Everton Singh-Lammy, had been that the sexual encounter with the young girl was consensual.
Following Justice Jo-Ann Barlow’s summation of the case yesterday morning, the 12-member jury retired to deliberate and returned some hours after with its unanimous verdict, finding Maniram not guilty of the offence.