Office of the President (OP) Press Officer Kwame McCoy yesterday declared himself innocent in the gun-butting assault of a man, saying that the charges against him stemmed from political lies and poor investigation by police.
McCoy was at the time giving an unsworn statement to acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where he was called upon to lead a defence in his trial over the alleged assault of Clifton Stewart.
It is alleged that McCoy is that on November 12, 2011, on Norton Street, assaulted Stewart with the intent to cause actual bodily harm. He is also charged with making use of threatening language to Stewart, thereby causing a breach of the peace, on the same day.
“…I stand before you today in testimony of the investigative weakness of the Guyana Police Force,” McCoy said, in his statement to the court, while expressing outrage that a false allegation for a political objective could have been considered without thorough investigation. He added that if there had been a proper investigation, the matter would not have warranted the attention of the court.
“It worries me that part of this tale, political concoction and theatrics could have someone coming before us committing perjury in both charges,” he said. As he began to lead his defence, the prosecutor interrupted, pointing out to the magistrate that McCoy was holding his cell phone in his hand and he would prefer that the phone be turned off, just to be certain that he was not recording anything. McCoy responded that he knew the rules of the court and then turned off his phone.
According to McCoy, it was not until the first court hearing that he saw the Virtual Complaint (VC) Stewart. He added that if he had seen him anytime before, it would had to have been flippantly and certainly not in a situation where he would use threatening language or commit an assault. “This is a tale of political lies that I have endured throughout my life as a young man for my political association,” he contended.
Stewart, who testified recently, said on the day of the attack he saw McCoy instructing others to put PPP posters over those of APNU. He said he told McCoy that he should know better and in response he was later told that he was a marked man. Stewart told the court that McCoy later began following him in his vehicle and made explicit statements about the leaders of APNU and its members, which subsequently resulted in a further exchange. He said McCoy eventually exited his vehicle and assaulted him with a “shine gun”.
McCoy yesterday admitted that he was in the area to deliver posters to campaign staff.
Five minutes later, he said, police arrived at the location claiming to have been sent there to accompany them throughout the exercise and then escorted them until its completion. “…At no point in time I issued threatening language or displayed threatening behaviour,” he said.
In denying the attack, McCoy also took the police investigator to task, saying that he had produced an investigation of “the poorest level.” He said that at the time the alleged attack occurred, his licensed firearm was lodged with the police. It was uplifted on November 14, 2011, he said, adding that it was while he was standing at the registry to uplift his weapon that he was approached by a policeman, who related to him that there was a report of him assaulting someone with a gun. He said his exact words to the policeman were, “I saw the report and I may get back to you.”
McCoy said it was virtually impossible for him to have his firearm at the time of the allegation since it was at the registry and the police could verify his claim. He also noted that the model of his weapon, a .32, is not consistent with the length of the weapon Stewart described in his testimony.
“My worship, this is exactly the kind of episode I endure throughout my political life,” he said, adding that previous allegations against him had been proven untrue in the past.
When asked if there was any witness he would like to present to the court, McCoy’s lawyer Bernard De Santos SC responded in the affirmative. McCoy will continue to lead his defence when the case resumes on June 15.
