Wanted man’s mom says... ‘My son was living overseas for a year now’

Wanted man’s mom says… ‘My son was living overseas for a year now’

Nov 12, 2009 News

From left: his mother Lorraine Clarke and his sister Merlyn Clarke.

“Can you be part of a gang which set fire on the Ministry of Health building while you are living in French Guiana?” This was the question, which was asked by Lorraine Clarke, the mother Charles Clarke for whom a wanted bulletin has been issued.
The woman explained that her son has been living in the neighbouring country for the past year. She said that her son left these shores October 2008 for Trinidad. The mother said that her son only returned to Guyana because his extension had expired. She said that her son left for French Guiana last May.
Clarke said that her son works as a construction worker with his cousin, Shawn Adams, the brother of Fire Chief Marlon Gentle.
The woman admitted that her son had a brush with the law almost four years ago. She explained that the police had raided a house in Albouystown and marijuana was found in the house. Her son was charged, but the magistrate later dismissed the case.
Clarke further told this newspaper that the police never came looking for her son. She posited that if the Guyana Police Force had efficiently done their job they would have known that her son was not living in Guyana and they would have never published his photograph.
“If the police would sit and properly assess their evidence they would know that my son wasn’t in Guyana when the Ministry of Health went up in flames, nor was he in the country when the gunmen created havoc in the city recently.”
She said that the entire fiasco has left the family in an embarrassing situation. “Everyone just calling and asking is what my son involved in, it isn’t fair for the police to be destroying someone’s character”. The woman now worries about when her son comes for Christmas if the police would be arresting him.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that Charles’s mother has no way of knowing that her son is indeed out of Guyana. When asked about the records at the airport, he said that in a number of countries there are no records of people either leaving or entering.
The Crime Chief cited one case; he said that during the crime spree when prison escapee Dale Moore was killed a body was found in the cemetery.
The body was identified as Mark Singh. Singh’s father had no knowledge that he was in Guyana, stating that his son was suppose to be in the USA.
Attorney at law Mortimer Coddett, the attorney for Keith Ferrier, said that he had not seen his client since he was granted bail in the High Court.
Ferrier was granted $300,000 bail by Chief Justice Ian Chang, last August.