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Police officer absent from court on seven occasions
– Complainant says ‘he is above the law’
A distraught 46-year-old man is of the belief that he is getting the “royal-runaround,” in his case against police officer, Garcia Fraser. The policeman allegedly damaged his car and refuses to appear before a city Magistrate to answer to the charge.
Winston Wilburg of Charles Estate, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara explained that the matter was called more than six times at the Providence Magistrate’s court, before Magistrate Leron Daly and despite his efforts to ascertain why the officer has not been attending court, Wilburg said, “All they keep doing is referring me to different officers who have not been of much assistance.”
The incident occurred on March 26, last, when Wilburg was proceeding south along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway and approaching Swan Turn.
The back of the car that was badly damaged
He said, “When I put on my indicator, I was proceeding east off the highway along a track which would lead you into Kuru Kuru. Then all of a sudden I felt a strong impact behind my vehicle and I stopped. When I came out my car I noticed that a police vehicle (PLL 1602) had run into mine. A police constable then came out and he started cursing me and we had our little exchange there.
“Anyway he had agreed at the time to compensate me for the damage but after we made that arrangement, I never saw him again. I had to pay for all the damage which came up to $600,000.”
“After the police sought advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) she instructed that Fraser be dealt with departmentally and that he be charged. The charge was then instituted and I was told to attend court on May 30. Fraser was a no-show. The next date was May 17 and he still didn’t appear.
“We had three other callings for the matter and he showed up once and we were given another court date which was August 3. When I turned up to the court, the clerk told me how she didn’t have any record of that. So I decided to do some investigations.”
He added, “I can’t have this case being dismissed. I went to complain to the Divisional Commanders, I went to the Office of Professional Responsibilities, and I spoke to traffic ranks at the Brickdam Police Station and still no help. I kept wondering why this man wasn’t coming to court and I later found out that the Prosecutor at the court was not in possession of the case file.
“I was then advised by another officer to lodge a complaint at the Brickdam Police Station about this. When I did I was told that the file can’t reach the Prosecutor because it is with the DPP and they referred me to the Court Superintendent, Edmond Cooper. When he called the Prosecutor for the file she couldn’t find it and he in turn promised me that on the next court date, Thursday last, the file would be there and the defendant would be there.
“However, when the date did come, Fraser was a no show and so was the file.”
“With all this running around, I am only left to conclude that these police officers believe that they are above the law. Tell me why after seven callings this man can’t reach the court? Why this file can’t be found?”
Wilburg added that he delivered a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Leroy Brumell. In that letter his lawyer, Lawrence Harris, expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the matter is being dealt with and hopes the Commissioner can look into the matter and help to expedite the case.
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