Knife-toting students released into parents custody

– probe ongoing

The knife-wielding students of two city secondary schools who were arrested when they turned up at the Leonora Secondary school to fight, have been released into the custody of their parents, Assistant Commissioner of Police Balram Persaud said.

According to the D Division Commander, the 17 students were released late Tuesday night after giving statements to the police.

He said that at present, investigators are preparing a report which will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice on the way forward.

Persaud had told Stabroek News that some 15 teenagers from the Queenstown Secondary School and two from Christ Church Secondary descended on the West Coast school armed with knives around 14:00 hrs on Monday.

However Christ Church yesterday denied that its students were involved in the incident. According to a senior official at the school, the names given were checked against the school’s register and were not on it.

When questioned about this Persaud insisted that the information he has is that the students were from that school, stressing that they were even dressed in the uniform.

Officials at the Leonara Secondary School declined to speak when contacted by this newspaper yesterday.

The commander had explained that two students at the Leonora Secondary School had a “problem” resulting in one calling a relative who attends one of the two city secondary schools. Apparently that relative rounded up other students and armed with knives they travelled to the West Coast school for a confrontation. Frightened teachers contacted the police.