July 17 start date for trial of cops accused of Colwyn Harding assault

The trial of Devin Singh and Rosel Tilbury-Douglas, the constables accused of assaulting detainee Colwyn Harding late last year, is scheduled to begin on July 17.

Singh, of Lot 125 Mon Repos, East Coast Deme-rara and Tilbury-Douglas, of Alliance Road, Timehri, East Bank Demerara made another appearance before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Providence Magis-trate’s Court where they signed and collected their statements yesterday.

At the last hearing, the court learned that enough statements had been submitted for the commencement of a trial. The court also heard that a special prosecutor would be brought in to prosecute the matter due to the court’s prosecutrix’s involvement in the case; she had been required to submit statements.

Devin Singh
Devin Singh
Rosel Tilbury-Douglas
Rosel Tilbury-Douglas

The duo had initially appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry jointly charged with assaulting Harding during the period November 1 to November 13, 2013, at the Timehri Police Station, causing actual bodily harm. Singh also faced a separate assault charge against Harding.

Singh and Tilbury-Douglas both denied the charges when they were read to them and were placed on $200,000 and $100,000 bail, respectively.

Although the policeman had been accused of inserting a condom-covered baton into Harding’s anus, Singh was only charged with two counts of assault, with his lawyer deeming the rape allegations as “scandalous.”