SERGEANT Lloyd Kelly, the detective caught on video shooting murder suspect ‘Ching Sing’ Lloyd in Buckfield, St Ann in 2009, was yesterday freed of a murder charge in the Home Circuit Court.

Kelly was freed following a no-case submission by lead attorney QC K Churchill Neita. The submission came at the end of the prosecution’s case.

In upholding the submission, Justice Marva McDonald Bishop said that the prosecution had not provided any evidence to prove the cause of Ian ‘Ching Sing’ Lloyd’s death in 2010. Bishop had on Tuesday refused an application for the report of the doctor who performed the post-mortem to be entered into evidence, via the Evidence Act, as she was not satisfied that the doctor was off the island.

Additionally, she noted that evidence from the prosecution witnesses was that Lloyd had been injured by a mob after he was accused of murdering a woman known as ‘Ms Cherry’ in the area.

Following the adjournment, Neita — who appeared with QC Delano Harrison and junior counsel Renee Barker — said that this was a “classic case” of self-defence and that the matter shouldn’t have gone to trial in the first place.

“He was acting in the lawful course of his duty,” Neita said. “I’m feeling jubilant and happy for Mr Kelly. He can pick up back the pieces of his life.”

Lloyd was shot on July 29, 2010 and the incident was video-recorded using a cellphone and broadcast on television. Kelly, along with other police officers, had gone on the scene to arrest Lloyd after receiving reports that he had just killed an elderly woman in Buckfield.

Kelly had been on trial before a panel of 12 jurors since Monday.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, three prosecution witnesses — two civilians and a police officer — testified that Kelly was forced to shoot after he came under attack from Lloyd, who had been throwing stones and bottles at Kelly and other people who had gathered. According to the witnesses, Lloyd had also used a piece of broken bottle to slash after the lawmen after they attempted to apprehend him.

The two civilian witnesses said that Lloyd was being beaten by a mob and that a man had been dropping big stones on him.

On Wednesday, Deputy Superintendent Bertram Lee of the Major Investigation Taskforce, who investigated Lloyd’s killing and who at one point supervised Kelly, said under cross-examination by Neita that he found the accused policeman to be “dedicated, hardworking, efficient, courageous and a responsible police officer”.

He said he had never received any report indicating that Kelly was a “hotheaded” police officer.