A man who admitted to killing a so-called don in St Catherine during a beating was on Thursday cleared of a murder charge and freed by the Corporate Area Gun Court, after a judge ruled that the witnesses brought by the Crown were “not credible” and accepted his claim of self-defence.

The man, who had been charged on an indictment containing four counts — illegal possession of firearm, murder, shooting with intent, and wounding with intent — had been in custody since 2016 for the killing.

The Crown’s case revolved around two main witnesses who gave evidence that on the day of the incident the former accused was at Job Lane in Spanish Town with several individuals.

According to one witness, he was at the location when he saw the accused walking along the lane “stepping hard”. The witness testified that the former accused looked at him and said, “Pree da play ya” then walked towards where the alleged area don was sitting in his car, reached into his waist, produced a gun and fired. According to the witness, he started running.

The second witness also gave the court a similar account.

However, the accused, in his own defence, gave sworn evidence telling the court that the night before that shooting he was called by one of the witnesses to go to the lane to speak with the ‘don’.

He said when he got to the lane he was beaten by several men and was told by the don that the beating was his punishment for molesting his own niece.

According to the man, he returned home after the beating and woke up to find his bicycle missing. He said he made a report to the police about his bicycle before heading to the hospital to get treatment for injuries sustained the night before. He claimed that upon returning home he was again summoned and told that the don wanted to speak with him.

According to the former accused, when he went he was told that he was summoned because he had taken their names to the police. He said he was again beaten. He claimed that during the beating he disarmed one of the men and started to fire shots in his own defence and ended up killing the don.

On Thursday, Supreme Court Judge Justice Leighton Pusey, in handing down the ruling, said, “This is a case in which the major facts are not in contest. Mr [name omitted] does not contest that he took a gun and fired and killed (name omitted).

“He does not deny that he was firing shots; his defence is that he was acting in reasonable self-defence. So the issues in this matter are very narrow: the question of the credibility of the Crown’s witnesses and, even if I accept the evidence of Mr (name omitted), whether or not he was acting in self-defence,” Justice Pusey said.

In noting the arguments made by defence attorney Tamika Harris during a no-case submission, Justice Pusey, who had ruled that there was no case to answer, said he had found that the witnesses were not credible.

“I did not believe that these were persons upon whom I could rely,” Justice Pusey stated, pointing to what he said were inconsistencies in their statements that made “both witnesses” dubious.

According to the judge, he found the accused a more credible witness of the incident than the actual witnesses against him.

In declaring that the former accused man’s assertion of self-defence was accepted, Justice Pusey pronounced him not guilty on all four counts.

“The court found that you acted in self-defence, you are free to go,” Justice Pusey told the relieved-looking man who sat for several moments before exiting the dock.