Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 07, 2021 News
Brickdam Police Station inferno…
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News – A video recorded confession has proved that Clarence Greene, called “Molly”, had willingly admitted to setting the fire that destroyed the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday.
Recent reports had circulated that Greene, through his lawyers Ronald Daniels and Kiswana Jefford, had denied any involvement in the fire. In fact, the suspected arsonist is now claiming that he was assaulted and forced to sign a statement that was never read to him.
There were also claims made that the Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, and an officer by the name of Caesar were present at the time when he was being forced to sign the statement.
Consequently, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had sent out a press release refuting those allegations and the suspect’s video confession tape, seen by Kaieteur News and a few other media houses, has proved that Greene willingly admitted to setting the Brickdam Police Station on fire.
The video seen by this media house was recorded around 22:56hrs on Saturday and showed that neither the Home Affairs Minister nor officer Caesar were present at the time Greene made his confession.
Present were two male officers – one of them conducting the interview with Greene and the other who operated the video camera – and a female sergeant who took notes.
The investigating officer, before commencing the interview, introduced himself on camera and put forward the allegation to Greene.
He asked, “Do you know why you are here?” to which Greene responded, “yes, concerning the fire.”
The officer then advised Greene that he could choose to remain silent or request that his attorney or a family member be present during the time of the interview. Greene acknowledged and gave the go ahead for them to proceed with the interview. The officer had also asked him to state on record if he was assaulted or mistreated while in custody to which Greene responded “no.”
Greene was then asked by the officer to explain everything that had transpired from the time he was arrested for an alleged robbery to the moment he was brought to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters at Eve Leary, Georgetown.
Greene began his confession by indirectly establishing the motive behind setting the fire.
“First, I was there (at the Brickdam lock-up) on an innocent charge,” Greene started off by saying.
According to police, Greene was arrested around 04:00hrs Saturday last at Leopold Street for robbing two vendors – a female and male – at the Stabroek Market of their cellphones sometime around 00:03hrs.
The victims had told the cops that one of them had gone to buy plantains from the other when two men approached them. One of the men described as a mix-race individual pulled out a gun and demanded that they hand over their belongings. The victims gave them their cellphones and the men escaped.
Investigators learnt that the female vendor alerted a security guard who was nearby and they had gone in search of the gunmen together. They reportedly caught up with one of them (Greene) and alerted the cops. He was subsequently arrested and, according to the ranks who arrested him, the vendors’ cellphones were found in his possession and he was positively identified as one of the bandits.
During the video confession seen by this newspaper, Greene said that indeed the stolen articles were found on him but he was not the one who had robbed the woman. Greene claimed that he was detained innocently because all he did was hand over the stolen items.
With the evidence against him, the ranks at the Brickdam Station decided to place him in the lock-up to keep him in custody as they continued their investigation.
He was reportedly placed in a cell located on the second floor of the lock-up which is situated extremely close to an office located on the upper flat of the eastern half of the Brickdam Police Station.
As it relates to how he was able to enter the cell with a lighter (which he reportedly used to set the fire), Greene said on camera that he was searched by an officer who had initially taken away the item from him. However, he had requested that the officer return the lighter because, “I does want to smoke one, one cigarette some time.”
The officer, he said, was a bit reluctant to give him the lighter but he managed to get a cigarette from a policeman which he showed to the officer. He was given the lighter and, according Greene, the officer had seen him entering the cell with the prohibited item.
“The officer that does run the station, he, I ask he fuh a cigarette and went to collect back the lighter. When I collect the lighter the officer see when I carry in the lighter on me,” Greene told the investigating officer during the video recorded confession.
It was while in his cell, confessed Greene, that he started to become frustrated about being detained for what he labelled as “something he did not do”.
“He carry me upstairs, we collect the mattress, he put me in the cell…I deh inside deh I get frustrated as the thing keep coming back to me head. I getting mo frustrated, frustrated because they put me in deh a long time about something me ain’t know about and me able spend time jussa dry,” Greene said.
Sometime later, Greene continued, he had asked one of the prisoners who was outside (one of the inmates that had told police that he was one who had set the fire) to pass him a wire that was nearby.
“Getting frustrated that me alone in the cell, the guy wah give the statement, he went doing something outside and I see the wire and I tell he pass the wire fuh me deh.”
The suspected arsonist then went on to give details of how he used the wire, a piece of sponge he had torn from his mattress and the lighter he took with him into the cell to start the inferno.
“I ben the wire in two half suh and push it through the sponge about this size and remember the sponge can’t go through the diamond hole (the diamond shape mesh that grilled the air vent to his cell) suh piece guh through and piece lef in,” Greene explained.
He revealed that he had lit the end of the sponge that was left in his cell and went to sleep. A short while later, added Greene, the same inmate who had passed him the wire came knocking at his cell door alerting him about the fire.
“He come and wake me up at the door and seh ‘watch wah going on deh…fire’ and I went like between sleep and wake and I deh sweating all because the heat penetrating coming back.”
According to reports, it was the prisoners who had alerted a subordinate officer that smoke was emanating from Greene’s cells.
That officer had said that immediately after the smoke turned to flames, with the help of one of the prisoners, he had filled a bucket of water and had thrown it through the vent in Greene’s cell. That, however, did not contain the blaze which resulted in 80 percent destruction of the Brickdam Police Station.
Greene is expected to appear in court today to face the charge of alleged robbery. With regards to a charge of committing the act of arson, investigators told reporters last night that the case file was still being reviewed by their legal advisor before it is sent to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 28, 2024
Minister Ramson challenge athletes to better last year’s performance By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – Guyana’s 23-member contingent for the CARIFTA Games in Grenada is set to depart the...B.V. Police Station Kaieteur News – The Beterverwagting Police Station, East Coast Demerara (ECD) will be reconstructed... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, water scarcity and... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]