Petty thief electrocuted, homeowner in the sauce

May 07, 2009 News

The fence to which the wire that electrocuted Semple was attached

Whitney Andrews had wired his fence to prevent cows from entering his Surat Drive, Triumph, East Coast Demerara premises.
However, he did not cater for unwelcomed humans, so when 30-year-old Learie Semple tried to steal a barrel from Andrews’s yard he was unaware of the trap.
Semple, 36, a former cane harvester, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital around 10:00 hours, yesterday.

Andrews, a Justice of the Peace, has been taken into custody and could face a charge of manslaughter, since according to a police source he should have placed a sign to warn persons of the danger.
This newspaper understands that Semple, of 174 Surat Drive, Triumph, a known petty thief in the community, had entered Andrews’s yard with the intention of stealing a plastic barrel.
The barrel was filled with water, so Semple emptied it, threw it over the fence and was about to leave when he came into contact with the wire.

Neighbours saw Semple writhing on the ground and called out to Andrews.
The JP told this newspaper that he was in his house when he heard the neighbours calling out to alert him that someone was stealing his barrel.
He said that he looked out and he did not see his barrel, nor did he did see anyone.
He went into his yard and later saw Semple lying motionless next to his fence, a few feet from the empty barrel.

The coil of wire that was removed by police

At that time it appeared that Semple was already dead as no effort was made to rush him to the hospital.
The police were summoned and after initial investigations, during which they removed a length of electrical wire that was attached from Andrews’s house to his fence, they ordered that Semple’s body be taken to the hospital.
Semple’s 98-year-old grandmother, Jessie Skeete, said that Semple was weeding his yard but subsequently left and went out, leaving his cutlass and file on the steps.
She said that she later heard two women who were passing on the road saying something about her grandson.
She said that neighbours subsequently came and told her that Semple was found dead in a yard further up the road.

She then called the dead man’s sister who was at work.
“A man come and tell me that Learie get electrocute. So I say that that body in trouble,” Skeete said, referring to the owner of the property in which her grandson died.
Samantha Semple, the dead man’s sister, said that when she arrived on the scene there was a crowd in the yard and she was summoned to identify the body.
“The first thing that I saw was a wire. When I saw the wire my eyes keep tracing the wire and the wire lead straight to a house… at the back house, on the wall. Then somebody’s words were, ‘Wha she come fuh?” Samantha Semple related.
She then urged the police to take her brother’s body to the hospital.
Police said that they will be seeking the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions before instituting charges against the homeowner.