‘Police brutalized my son without a reason’- says mother

Jan 15, 2011 News

A single parent mother is alleging that members of the Guyana Police Force who visited the yard she lives in to carry out a search yesterday brutalized her 16-year-old son.
According to Sharon Baynes, the mother, the policemen were very unprofessional in carrying out their duties as peace officers. “They should not be a part of the police force since they behaved as if they were criminals.”
Baynes said that yesterday morning a party of policemen barged into her home at 29 Middle Street, McDoom, East Bank Demerara, and proceeded to carry out a search. However, many other houses in the yard were also searched and everyone, including her 16-year-old son, Kevin Headley who attends Tutorial High School, exited the building and allowed the police to carry out their duties.
The woman said that her two-year-old granddaughter was crying and she left to collect her from inside another building and while finding clothes for the child she heard a gunshot. When she exited the building she heard screaming and shouting.
In tears, Baynes said that she explained to a senior police officer at the scene about what transpired but it appeared as if her complaint was in vain. “You cannot shoot a bullet and so many children are in the yard,” she told him.
It transpired that the policemen were searching for marijuana and saw someone whom they suspected that they wanted, standing on the stairs of the building. They said that they shot in his direction but the woman said that this was done without care or consideration of the other people in the vicinity. One resident who was in the yard at the time of the shooting said that they heard the police saying, “Let we shoot this banna (man); let we shoot he and kill he now. Let we gang up and shoot he up.
“When they shoot it barely miss the boy; dem nearly kill he.”
“When I see them shoot, I holler ‘you ain’t see children inside the yard? Y’all don’t shoot,” said 16-year-old Kevin Headley. He said that they proceeded to beat him. When his mother enquired why they were beating him, the policemen then started to use profanity and chased her away.
“And a Indian one slap me and after that two other African one start cuffing and kicking me up and lash me inside me face with they gun, and when I fell to the ground they start kicking me in me chest. A big man had to tell them stop,” the lad said.
Kevin added that when his mother asked him to identify the policemen, who assaulted him the three policemen then jumped into the police vehicle and drove away.
The traumatized parent said that her son was carried to Ruimveldt Police Station where he was given a medical certificate and a statement was taken, She said that they then proceeded to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
She is also calling on the Commissioner of Police, Minster of Home Affairs and the Police Complaints Authority to investigate the policemen’s actions.

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‘Police brutalized my son without a reason’- says mother

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