On the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), police have charged two East La Penitence residents with manslaughter over the killing of Ardell Haynes and they are scheduled to make their first court appearance today.
A police press release last evening said that following investigations into the death of the 43-year-old South Ruimveldt resident, Urdock Reid and Keith Binns have been charged with man-slaughter. They will appear at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court today, the release added. Reid was hailed a local hero in July, 2006 when he had plunged into a cesspit at Tucville to rescue five-year-old Briana Dover, though she did not survive.
Reid was one of the four men initially held for the fatal beating of Haynes, but released when the 72 hours permitted by the law were up.
The police, at this point, submitted a file to the DPP for advice on the way forward and were last week instructed to conduct further investigations.
This was done and it was based on additional evidence that Reid was rearrested and Binns subsequently held.
Three Tuesdays ago, as the electrician was making his way home on a bicycle from a birthday party held at a Norton Street residence, several persons pounced on him and beat him mercilessly.
They had assumed that he was the burglar who had broken into a house in Pirai Square, East La Penitence minutes earlier, and attempted to cart off a television set. That person dropped the item after an alarm was raised and escaped through a nearby alleyway. Subsequently a group of persons took a badly wounded Haynes to the Pirai Square home for identification saying that he was found staggering on a street in Meadow Brook.
The man was later taken to the East La Penitence Police Station and left in the yard between traffic motorcycles in the drizzling rain.
His wife said that when she called the station for information, the female rank at the other end of the line was uncaring and unmannerly. The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has since launched an investigation into the alleged negligence and misconduct of the ranks at the station.
Haynes was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Hospital and a post-mortem examination revealed that he died from multiple injuries.
Two residents of a nearby street had told Stabroek News that they witnessed the incident and one had identified two of the assailants as persons living in the area.
This incident mirrors one that occurred at Soesdyke in November, in which 35-year-old Rickford Barker was beaten to death by residents after he was caught attempting to break into a shop.
Five men were charged with murder but only three appeared in court. The others are still at large.
The charge was later reduced to manslaughter.
i do hope they find out who the other perputrators are; because from the initial reported it stated that it was a gang of folks who swarmed and beat him up.
True that
Thank you Mr Police Commissioner,,,,I see that you are doing just what I predicted, thank you so much. People may malign you but I know you are on the job doing YOUR best to help bring justice to this man’s family for his brutal MURDER.
The polishe comish is being paid by the people of Guyana. Is’nt he???
Let him earn his money doing the job he was hired to do.
“Keep it “LIT”
This kind of thing has been going on in Guyana for years without police taking action. It is good to see that the police are getting involved and not letting citizens take matters into their own hands. Justice must be served the right way.
I hope some closure comes to the family of mr. haynes, and the culprits get their just punishment for such heinous crime against humanity.
Hope that “full”justice is served in this case.
I am also looking forward to the investigation launched against the ranks at that station, because I feel they should be charged with criminal negligence or something like that.
After all, their failure to act indicates that they had already passed judgment on this INNOCENT man, this reducing his chances of survival.
Very interesting developments! I taught this incident happened in a dark alleyway. I’m curious how the eyewitness were able to ID these individuals.
It is my believe that if you beat someone to death you should be charge with some degree of murder( 1st, 2nd etc.). Maybe I am wrong but manslaughter- is a form of accidential killing. I hope that someone can enlighting me. I have read many articles(guyana) where people are killed with knives, cutlasses & even guns, but receive manslaughter charges. I believe if someone use any weapon on another the likelihood is greatly increase.
Carl..Murder is with malace aforethought, while manslaughter is without. The evidence in this case will not reveal any malace, it will reveal what who the accused thought the deceased to be ( a thief)hence he was beaten to death.
this is the same thing i was saying upon reading the article and by the time the lawyers finish who knows what the charge end up to ,not that i dont give thanks to the dpp, but it would be ashame if they end up walking they need to send a serious message to these people .but i still proud of what they did just for the familes of mr ardell.
What about the police and the callous way in which they treated the
wounded man before he died?
Should they not be disciplined?
nothing was mentioned about the police officer on duty at the time of this poor man’s death, who after being dropped off at the station was left in the pouring rain to die, whoever was on duty that night was also responsible for his demise, because just maybe if he was taken to the hospital he might have been alive today.
He/she should be charged too. There should also be departmental charges against all the ranks who were present at the station at the time!