Two men have been cleared of attempted murder charges following a month-long Supreme Court trial.

Devon Hewey, 26, and Cervio Cox, 31, were yesterday found not guilty of attempting to murder Levon Thomas early on the morning of March 24, 2012, and using a firearm.

While the 11-person jury was able to give a unanimous verdict in Mr Hewey’s favour in the afternoon, it was only after several hours of additional deliberation that they were able to reach a nine-to-two verdict of not guilty in the case of Mr Cox.

Following the verdict, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves discharged Mr Cox, telling him: “Live in peace and keep away from places, things and people that might cause you to be in this type of trouble.”

The court had heard during the Supreme Court trial that Mr Thomas was leaving Shine’s Nightclub when two men on a motorcycle drove past and opened fire.

Mr Thomas ran to the other side of the road and escaped unharmed down a set of stairs to Front Street while gunshots shattered two windows in Seon Place.

The accused allegedly attempted to leave the scene by racing up Cavendish Road, but turned around upon seeing a marked police car. They then sped back to Spurling Hill and on to East Broadway, with the police in pursuit.

The officers lost sight of the suspects near Berry Hill, but minutes later found an abandoned motorcycle in Botanical Gardens with its engine still warm and plastic wrapped around its licence plate.

The Crown had alleged that Mr Hewey was riding the motorcycle involved in the attack while Julian Washington, who was acquitted of the shooting in a previous trial, was the gunman.

It was argued that Sergio Robinson was the intended target of the attack and that Mr Thomas was shot at in a case of mistaken identity.

While prosecutors said that Mr Cox was not directly involved in the shooting, they alleged he had assisted the perpetrators both before and after the attack, guiding Mr Hewey to the Botanical Gardens then speeding him away from the area before police officers arrived.

In his closing address, prosecutor Carrington Mahoney said that DNA on the motorcycle’s handlebars had been linked to Mr Hewey, while Mr Cox’s DNA was found on the plastic used to obscure the licence plate. Officers also discovered gunshot residue (GSR) on the motorcycle and GSR component particles on clothing and helmets found at Mr Cox’s home.

He also accused Mr Hewey of changing his story about where he was on the evening of the shooting, arguing that he did so to explain evidence which had not been before the jury in a previous trial for the same matter.

However, defence lawyers Charles Richardson and Kamal Worrell, representing Mr Cox and Mr Hewey respectively, argued that the prosecutor’s version of events did not fit the evidence before the courts.

Mr Worrell noted that the target of the attack had told the court that Mr Hewey was not the man riding the motorcycle. The lawyer said that while Mr Hewey owned the motorcycle found in Botanical Gardens, he had loaned it to a friend on the evening of the shooting and had not been riding it.

Mr Richardson, meanwhile, said that no true gunshot residue had been found at his client’s home, and the component particles could have come from other sources. Regarding Mr Cox’s DNA on the plastic, Mr Richardson said that his client may have had innocent contact with the plastic long before it was tied to the licence plate.

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