In the courts

Former cop accused of derailing murder case: A former police officer was last Monday charged with causing a murder case to be dismissed by absenting himself from court when he was due to testify. The accused, Henry Clement, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in a Georgetown court, where he was charged with obstruction of justice. It is alleged that Clement, between July 15, 2020 and October 21, 2020, willfully

obstructed the course of Justice by absenting himself from court after being warned to give evidence in the case of the State versus Devon Alleyne, also known as ‘Big Head’ and Rodrick Thomas, also known as ‘Roger,’ for the offence of murder committed on Kelvin Walters. He was granted bail in the sum of $70,000 with the conditions that he report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) every Monday and stay 50 feet away from the witness. He is to make his next court appearance on July 8th, 2021. The court prosecutor informed the court that Clement, who was stationed at the Brickdam Police Station and attached to the Impact Base, willfully absented himself from court, resulting in the case being dismissed. Alleyne and Thomas, the two men accused of fatally shooting taxi driver Walters, were freed in October of 2020 after a city magistrate upheld no-case submissions made by their lawyers.

Life sentences for duo over killing of clothes vendor at Craig:

Selwyn Dawson and Kelvin Persaud, who were on trial for the 2017 murder of Cayenne-based clothes vendor Purcell Moore, have changed their pleas and were last Monday handed life sentences. Justice Sandil Kissoon ordered that they spend 15 years in jail before being considered for parole. Mid-trial the men indicated through their attorneys that they no longer wanted to proceed, and pleaded instead to the lesser offence of manslaughter. They were then re-arraigned and admitted that they, in the company of another, had unlawfully killed Moore after robbing him of his gold chain on the morning of December 20th, 2017, at Old Road, Craig, East Bank Demerara..

Crime

Three held over Haresh Singh’s murder, Gladwin Henry wanted for questioning: The police have issued a wanted bulletin for Gladwin Henry, who is being sought for questioning over the murder of West Berbice teenager Haresh Singh. The Guyana Police Force on Friday night issued the bulletin for Henry, a brother of Joel Henry, one of the two cousins who were brutally murdered last September. His last known address was given as No. 3 Village, West Coast Berbice. The bulletin came in the wake of the recent arrest by the Major Crimes Unit of three persons in connection with Singh’s murder. Seventeen-year-old Singh, also known as ‘Raj’, of Lot 8, Number 3 Village, West Coast Berbice, was found with head injuries and chop wounds along the No. 2 Village backdam on September 9, 2020. Singh left home on his motorcycle to tend to his farm in the backdam of No. 3 Village. Sometime after, his relatives saw smoke rising from the backdam and left to investigate. They discovered the body of Singh lying motionless. His nose was bleeding. His motorcycle had also been burnt. An autopsy later concluded that he died as a result of brain hemorrhaging and blunt trauma to the head, compounded by compression injuries to his neck. Singh was murdered days after teenage cousins Joel and Isaiah Henry were slain. Singh’s murder was believed to be a reprisal killing as several of his relatives had been initially held in connection with the murder of the cousins.

Goedverwagting woman found dead, husband charged with murder: Following the discovery of his wife’s body with suspected stab wounds and multiple bruises about her body, a Goedverwagting resident Samuel Daniels has been charged with murder. The deceased was Shalini Paul, also known as Saskia Perreira, who was killed sometime between 8 pm on Sunday and 8.20 am on Monday. The police, in a statement, revealed that her body was discovered lying motionless following a report of a fight between her and her 59-year-old husband. A post-mortem examination conducted on the remains of the woman revealed the cause of her death to be blunt trauma to the head. Daniels appeared on Thursday before Magistrate Alisha George at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court where he was charged with the murder. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded to prison. He is to make his next court appearance on July 26, 2021.

Norton St youth stabbed to death by brother: A youth was fatally stabbed on Friday morning during an altercation with an older brother at Cummings Street, Bourda. The deadly encounter occurred while Paul Anthony Chase, 24, of Norton Street, Lodge, was visiting his mother’s residence along with older brother Quincy Reynolds. The Guyana Police Force, in a report, stated that around 7.15 am their mother, Sonia Chase, questioned Reynolds about a burnt spot on a mattress, which caused him to become annoyed. He began shouting at her in the living room area and eventually dealt her a cuff to her left eye, injuring her as a result. The police said Paul, who saw what transpired, began arguing with his brother, who then armed himself with a knife and stabbed him to his chest and neck, as the two scuffled in the washroom area. The police were summoned and the body of the deceased was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.