Three high profile matters which are being investigated by the police have been in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for weeks now awaiting advice on the possibility of charges being laid. When contacted on investigations into the death of Camp Street prisoner, Edwin Niles who was allegedly beaten by prison officers, the shooting of a policeman by Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys and the shooting up of a house by a Unity businessman, senior police officials said that “the file is still with the DPP.”
There has been no indication as to the reason for the delay which in one instance amounts to almost three weeks.
It has been over a month since policeman Mark George was shot by Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys and no charges have been laid. The police completed their investigations and handed the file over to the DPP for advice, but it was returned with instructions to conduct further investigations. As instructed, police did carry out further investigations and resubmitted the file late last month. To date there has been no word from the chambers of the DPP, but in the meantime, George a member of the Tactical Services Unit has been discharged from the Georgetown Hospital where he was admitted following the June 26 incident.
George has made a good recovery having been shot in the back with the bullet exiting through his abdomen. There were injuries to some of his vital organs and the rank who was in uniform at the time of the shooting was rushed to the operating room for emergency surgery.
He spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit before being moved to the High Dependency Unit.
While the man continues to recover, the magistrate is still on leave and other magistrates are handling his cases in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court as well as in the court in Linden. The rank and his colleagues were reportedly on patrol in Woolford Avenue when they noticed a vehicle with tinted windows parked on the roadway. The officers made checks and an argument ensued between them and the driver, who was later identified as Magistrate Gilhuys. It was at this point that the magistrate reportedly opened fire on the ranks, hitting George in the back.
The magistrate subsequently made a report at the Brickdam Police Station but he refused to hand over his weapon. However, he parked his vehicle which had about six bullet holes, in the station compound. The magistrate then appeared at the station the following day accompanied by his attorney Nigel Hughes, and after spending several hours, was released on self bail. He also lodged his weapon at the station.
Following the shooting, the magistrate had claimed that he was first shot at and that he returned fire. Two weeks have passed since the case of the Unity ice factory owner who discharged several rounds from his licensed firearm at his neighbour’s house when in a fit of rage.
A senior police source told Stabroek News recently that the file is still with the DPP and there has been no further word on the status of the matter.
Around 6 pm at Factory Road, the man who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol went into a yard next to his home and while using a series of expletives, discharged rounds at the house. The episode reportedly occurred because the man believed that his neighbour, Raywattie Sukprasad, was gossiping with his wife and others about him.
During the shooting spree at least six rounds were discharged but the occupants of the house managed to secure themselves inside the property until the man had left.
A report could not be made at the station that night because of transportation difficulties but this was done the following morning. The occupants of the house handed over two spent shells which they retrieved from the front of the yard, to the police.
Police on that day visited the man’s residence three times but could not locate him. However when he turned himself in at the station the following day he reportedly told the ranks that he was shooting at alligators and not at the house or its occupants. Together with several ranks he returned to his home that day and collected the firearm which was used in the incident before being taken back to the station and placed in the lock-ups where he spent the night. The following day he was released on $20,000 station bail.
The victims had expressed the hope that charges would be laid against the businessman for his behaviour since according to them it was a regular occurrence.
Weeks after Edwin Niles succumbed to the injuries he sustained allegedly at the hands of prison officers, Commissioner of Police (ag) Henry Greene last week announced that the file was with the DPP.
A police source told this newspaper on Monday that the file was still at the DPP.
Niles was reportedly given a thrashing at the hands of prison officials after he had been found with seven live .22 rounds in the pockets of his pants after returning from a day of labour at army base Camp Ayanganna on July 2. It was during interrogation about where he got the rounds that he was beaten with a rubber hose and then burnt with a hot liquid. Niles had got the pants from a room at Camp Ayanganna which he had cleaned.
He subsequently died at the Georgetown Hospital. His cause of death was given as a clot in his lungs as a result of burns.
Following his death the matter was handed over to the police.
