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Four freed of 2011 East Coast Demerara race beating
Magistrate Jamilla Ali who presides at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court, yesterday dismissed all charges against the four men who were accused of beating four youths at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara on November 23, 2011.
The four men, Nazim Abdool, Ramnauth, Seenarine and Surujnauth were all charged for unlawfully wounding Mark Lustol, Lancelot Griffith and Shakeel Answick at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, on November 23, 2011.
The incident which took place at the height of the 2011 political seasons had attracted considerable public attention and outcry, in which the three young men, who claimed that they went to a shop to purchase some items, were mistaken for bandits.
In upholding the no case submission made by Attorneys-at-Law Jerome Khan and Euclin Gomes, the Magistrate found that the testimony of Mark Lustol and Shakeel Answick were inconsistent, particularly about who actually dealt any blows to them.
Khan argued that no identification parade was held and none of the accused was known to the victims. Further, no medical evidence was presented in court, nor was there any confrontation between the defendants and the four men. Khan told the court that he never denied the incident happened, but the police picked up the wrong persons.
Magistrate Ali, in handing down her decision, stated that this case reveals how police investigations should not be done. Attorney-at-Law, Euclin Gomes was not present when the decision was handed down but in his earlier submission said that the evidence of Shakeel Answick was inconsistent, unreliable and conflicting to the testimony of other witnesses.
Injured in the fracas were Mark Lustal, 16; Shaquille Answick, 17; and Lancelot Griffith, 16; all of Company Road, Buxton. A fourth boy, Omar Answick had managed to escape and immediately informed the parents of the other three boys.
The three had sustained lacerations to the head, hands and backs. They were treated at the Buxton Health Centre and taken back to the Vigilance Police Station where they were detained and questioned. Later in the evening they were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital. According to one report the young boys had attempted to rob a grocery store in Non Pareil and were beaten and chopped.
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