‘Biscuit’ collapses in prison

Jul 17, 2009 News

David Leander being taken to the GPHC.

Satyadeow Sawh murder accused, David Leander, called ‘Biscuit’, was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation yesterday after he collapsed in his cell.
Leander, 29, of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, was rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit around 07:30 hrs, where he was reportedly treated for persistent vomiting.
He remained there until around 14:45 hrs before he was taken on a gurney to the Male Medical Ward, where he was shackled and where he remained under guard.
He was still in a semi-conscious state at around 16:50 hrs.
Leander was due to re-appear in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court today for the Preliminary Inquiry before Magistrate Yohhahnseh Cave. Evelyn Estwick, an aunt of the accused, told Kaieteur News that medical staff said that they had not yet diagnosed his ailment and were conducting further tests on the patient.
A senior official from the Georgetown Prisons said that Leander was taken to the GPHC after he complained of feeling unwell. He had no further details.

According to Ms. Estwick, she received a call around 07:30 hrs yesterday from someone who informed her that Prison officials had taken her nephew to the hospital.
Leander’s aunt said that she managed to see him in the Emergency Unit, but Leander was unable to communicate with her. She said that he was being given fluids intravenously.
Estwick added that Leander was also treated at the GPHC last week Thursday after he complained of feeling unwell. David Leander, along with now-dead gunman Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, has been charged with the murder of Minister Satyadeow Sawh, his brother Rajpat Sawh, sister Pulmattie Persaud and security guard Curtis Robertson were all executed on April 22, 2006, when a gang of heavily armed men invaded the Minister’s La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara home.
He last appeared in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the preliminary inquiry before Magistrate Yohhahnseh Cave. Several witnesses have already testified but Minister Sawh’s brother, Omprakash, is yet to complete his testimony.
On his first court appearance in late 2007, Leander’s attorney had alleged that he was badly beaten while in custody, and the accused had to be assisted to and from the courtroom by the police.