A man, who was on Tuesday morning acquitted of murder and firearm charges after the Crown was forced to offer no evidence against him because its witnesses were no longer available, escaped trial with the warning of Supreme Court Judge Justice Leighton Pusey ringing in his ears.

The man, Dave Williams, who had been charged for the 2019 murder of Michael Henry, using an illegal gun, pleaded not guilty to both offences on Tuesday morning in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court before he was sprung.

The prosecution told the court that while it was in possession of two statements from two eyewitnesses, one of whom was the father of the dead man, the father has since died and the statement he had given “is not sufficient”.

Furthermore, the Crown said its efforts to locate the second witness have also “proven futile”. According to the prosecution, allegations are that the individual is the leader of a criminal gang and based on feedback from the investigator in the matter, this contributes to his whereabouts being unknown. The court was further told that although the same eyewitness had been before the court on another charge and was acquitted of murder, the Crown was of the view that “that witness, even if found, would prove incredible” given his antecedents as well as the fact that he did not witness the actual shooting.

“Based on… the challenges… the Crown is constrained and offers no evidence on the two counts of the indictment,” the prosecutor told the court.

Justice Pusey in ruling that Williams, who had opted for a judge-alone trial, be released, said, “The Crown has offered no evidence against you that means that this trial is at an end. You are free to go.”

He had this further warning for a subdued-looking Williams, who had nodded his head humbly, softly replying, ‘Yes sir’ upon being told he was a free man.

“You are very fortunate, sir. The reason they are doing this is because the witnesses aren’t available. You know whether or not you did anything, I don’t, but what I say to you is that if you did do something, make sure you don’t get in any trouble like that again because you realise the difficulties caused. If you never did anything then you can be very happy that you have been vindicated and there is no penalty against you,” Justice Pusey said in laying the matter to rest.