A man who told the police that he acted in self-defence after men came to rob and kill him was freed last Friday of a murder charge.

Mark Lee, 34, farmer, of River View Avenue, Gordon Town, St. Andrew, was freed after Mr. Justice Lloyd Hibbert upheld a no-case submission by defence lawyer Everton Bird. The judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

Mr. Bird submitted that the arresting officer had testified that when he saw Lee suffering from injuries at the University Hospital, Lee said he acted in self-defence. Mr. Bird said the Crown did not produce evidence to disprove Lee's statement.

Lee was charged with the murder of 19-year-old Christopher Johnson, of Gordon Town.

There was no eyewitness to the incident.

The Crown led evidence in the Home Circuit Court that both men lived in the same yard. Witnesses said they saw Johnson going up the road and after that they saw Lee going in the direction where Johnson had gone. Sometime after Johnson was found suffering from machete wounds and was taken to the University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A witness said that after Johnson was taken to hospital, Lee was also taken to the hospital suffering from injuries.