Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator

One of the two men convicted two years ago for the murder of security guard Edward Green near the Caymanas racetrack in St Catherine has been freed by the Court of Appeal.

Karega 'Che' Barnes, who was represented by attorney-at-law Leroy Equiano, was freed on the grounds that the judge invited the jury to speculate on an alibi which was the most crucial aspect of Barnes' defence.

He was serving a sentence of life imprisonment with 25 years before being eligible for parole.

The other man convicted for the murder, Marlon 'Backto' Brown, has been ordered to serve his sentence of life imprisonment and 25 years before being eligible for parole.

Green, a senior security guard and supervisor employed to McKay Security Consultants, was shot and killed at the racetrack while on duty on July 26, 2005.

A former district constable had testified at the trial in the Home Circuit Court in April 2010 that about 5:30 p.m. on the day of the incident he saw three men, including Barnes and Brown, at Gregory Park, St Catherine.

He said at about 6:10 p.m. he heard gunshots coming from the racetrack in the vicinity of the Gregory Park gate.

The former district constable told the court that he saw Brown and Barnes with guns in hand coming through the pedestrian gate at the racetrack.

Barnes had denied being involved in the murder.

He said that at 4:25 p.m. on the day of the incident, he was at the Linstead police station and left there at 4:30 p.m. for his home in Trojan, St Catherine, some four miles away.

Barnes argued that it would have been impossible for him to get to the racetrack at Caymanas Park by 5:30 p.m. because the Bog Walk gorge was blocked.