A man accused of raping an 11-year-old girl walked out of the Demerara High Court a free man on Monday after a jury unanimously acquitted him of the charge.
Following hours of deliberations, the mixed 12-member panel returned with its verdict, finding 22-year-old Timothy McGarrell not guilty of sexually penetrating the then 11-year-old girl on August 3, 2020.
He was accused of committing the offence at a West Bank Demerara home.
Trial Judge Navindra Singh then informed McGarrell that the jury had found him not guilty and that he was free to go.
The prosecution’s case, presented by State Counsel Abiola Lowe and State Counsel Mikel Puran had been that after McGarrell’s parents went to the market, he dragged the girl downstairs and raped her. He was 19 at the time.
In his defence, McGarrell, who was represented by Attorney-at-Law Kevin Morgan, claimed alibi and fabrication. He claimed that he never lived with his parents and that he was not there on the date and time the prosecution alleges the rape occurred.
