Cops blasted -after ranks cleared of bystander killing

Dameon Belgrave

The police force yesterday faced new accusations of covering up to protect its own after the apparent bungling of its case against two ranks charged with killing a bystander during a wild pursuit in the city in 2012.

Policemen Sheldon Williams and Errol Williams, who were charged with the man-slaughter after the fatal shooting of civilian Dameon Belgrave outside the White Castle Fish Shop in 2012, were freed last Thursday after a magistrate upheld no case submissions made by their counsel.

The two accused were freed by Magistrate Ann McLennan after the ballistics evidence given by Police Ballistic Expert Detective Sergeant Eon Jackson disclosed that a warhead discovered next at the scene next to Belgrave’s body revealed that it did not come from either of their guns, but from a third officer who was not charged. Stabroek News understands that the third officer, who was identified as “Constable Fraser,” was also one of the witnesses during the preliminary inquiry into the charge.

The dismissal of the charge has come amid intense scrutiny of the police’s handling of investigations of serving members, including a rank’s alleged rape