Policeman murder trial begins
PROSECUTORS were today due to begin outlining the case against a Suffolk policeman charged with murder with the chief prosecution witness being his ex-wife.
PROSECUTORS were today due to begin outlining the case against a Suffolk policeman charged with murder with the chief prosecution witness being his ex-wife.
The trial of Michael Cheong, 42, of Peterhouse Crescent, Woodbridge, was set to begin at the Old Bailey in London this afternoon.
The case was set to go ahead after an application by Cheong's legal team to have the case thrown out was dismissed by Judge Paul Focke.
The chief prosecution witness is due to be his former wife Sandra.
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Cheong is accused of killing Brian Spencer in the Linden Highway area of Guyana on August 4 1982.
The trial is due to last two weeks with eight witnesses having been flown over from Guyana and one from Canada.
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The witnesses will include Cheong's mum Marjorie, his brother Lawrence and his younger sisters Melanie and Suzanne who were aged 12 and 10 at the time and were witnesses to Mr Spencer being shot.
The 23-year-old victim suffered 22 pellet wounds after an alleged incident involving Cheong's then wife Sandra and another woman.
Some of the pellets were found lodged in his back and buttocks.
The case came to light after a tip off to British police more than 20 years after the incident.
This was despite an investigation at the time by the Guyanan authorities which concluded no criminal offence had occurred.
A previous bid to have the charge dismissed made by Cheong's legal advisers in February.
After that failed, Cheong protested his innocence in an exclusive interview with The Evening Star.
Father-of-two Cheong, a police constable in Ipswich, is also a former Royal Engineer.
He served in Iraq during the first Gulf war in 1991.
He has been suspended from duty as a police officer since his arrest on November 10 2003.
