By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 36-year-old man was acquitted yesterday of allegedly raping his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend at her home in 2024.
Ricardo Lightbourn was found not guilty of rape in a 6-3 jury verdict before Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns.
Lightbourn smiled with relief after the all-female jury returned its decision following two hours of deliberation.
Justice Archer-Minns told Lightbourn he was free to go as long as he had no other matters before the court.
The defendant was accused of raping his ex-girlfriend at her home on the night of April 15 to 16, 2024.
The complainant alleged that the accused did not have permission to be in her home that night and claimed he may have entered through the back door.
The complainant testified that she reported the allegations to the police two weeks after the alleged incident. She claimed she was reluctant to do so because she did not expect anything to happen.
She claimed the pair had a toxic and abusive relationship in the past and that Lightbourn allegedly injured her. The complainant said she and the accused had an open relationship but that she ended things with him when she found out he was cheating on her.
She denied fabricating the evidence.
Conversely, the defendant claimed the complainant was lying because she was upset after catching him cheating on her. He claimed she saw him with a woman named “Kelly”. Lightbourn said the complainant told him that she would mess up his life.
The defendant claimed his ex-girlfriend made the allegations out of revenge because he had moved on. He denied the allegations and claimed he was at his mother’s home on the night of the alleged incident.
The defence claimed the complainant was a woman scorned and that the defendant’s account was consistent from his arrest through his testimony.
Max Julien, Khaula Reid and Cephia Pinder-Moss prosecuted the case.
Danielle Kemp represented the accused.
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