Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 09, 2014 News
The police rank charged with setting the hands of a 19-year-old man afire, was yesterday placed on $125,000 bail when he appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell. Another rank charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice was placed on $100,000 bail.
The men were not required to plead to the charges which stemmed from the incident that saw the victim, Junior Thornton, being injured during his incarceration at the Sparendaam Police Station on May 28.
Twenty-one-year-old Earwin Forrester of Lot 135 One Mile Wismar was alleged to have inflicted the wounds on the victim, while Inspector of Police, Dexter Thornton, 41, of 128 Belfield, East Coast Demerara, who is said to be a family member of the virtual complainant, was alleged to have encouraged the teen’s relatives to accept money to offset the incident.
The prosecutor, John Singh, in his address to the court slammed the embattled ranks for the role they allegedly played in the burning incident. He told the court that the police force is at point where they are trying to build a positive relationship with the public, but there are elements trying to destroy that engagement.
The Prosecutor in a compelling tone went on to pound his colleagues by stating that Forrester had not observed the Force’s Standing Order 23, which speaks to the treatment of prisoners during their detention – and had disobeyed what is the norm in that regard.
In terms of Thornton, he said that the senior rank is related to the victim. He said Thornton was summoned and later intervened in the matter, where he failed to allow the course of justice. He said the officer was involved in “some sort of settlement” with the family of the victim. He said also that the force condemns the act of the policemen, and objected to bail for both of them.
Singh’s objection was however shot down by lawyers representing the policemen. Attorney Lennox Hanoman who represented Forrester, said that while he admired Singh’s “fine speech” he (Singh) failed to recognize that the policemen had not been tried.
He said that the prosecutor was speaking as if the men had already been found guilty of the crime and those grounds did not permit a reason to deny bail. Hanoman said he was making the bail application on behalf of his client and his seven-month pregnant girlfriend. He added also that his client has denied the allegations.
Patrice Henry told the court that the senior Thornton does not pose a flight risk and the issues raised by the prosecutor provided no evidence to support the allegations. He too charged that the prosecutor spoke as if the policemen had already been convicted.
Following the hearing, Dexter Todd, lawyer for Junior Thornton, commended the police for bringing the ranks to court since according to him, it was despite his client being unable to say who exactly inflicted the injuries on him.
The men however received their bail amounts and are scheduled to return to court on August 18.
It is alleged that young Thornton had been detained by the police in May for loitering and was kept at the police station for a few days. The teen reportedly behaved disorderly and the irate rank doused the man’s hand with a flammable liquid before setting it ablaze.
The victim’s father had reportedly taken $100,000 from the police, which was later said to be cash paid out for transportation purposes.
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