Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
Ravi Outar execution…DPP says police failed to take dying declaration from victim
Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, has ordered the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to investigate why police ranks failed to take a dying declaration from shot ex-policeman Ravi Outar, even though they were told that he would not have survived his injuries.
Ravi Outar
The DDP made this disclosure in a release yesterday, to explain why she was forced to order that charges be dropped against the accused, Jamaican Ralvin Mc Lean.
Outar, 29, was shot four times on June 10, 2015, while sitting outside his business place at 143 Second Street, Rose Hall, Berbice.
He later succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s Intensive Care Unit. While Outar was still hospitalized, police arrested and charged Mc Lean with attempted murder. That charge was subsequently withdrawn.
In the release, DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack stated that the charge against Mc Lean was based solely on the victim’s statement.
“The victim had spoken to the police and identified McLean as the driver of the car that transported the shooter from the scene. The shooter was never identified. According to the statements contained in the police file, there was no eyewitness; Outar’s wife was inside the house at the time of the explosions and when she ran outside, she was unable to identify anyone, including the driver of the car. The victim has since died and therefore, cannot testify.
“Since the victim’s evidence is the only evidence against McLean and he has died, there was no evidence available for the prosecution to proceed with the charge instituted,” the release added.
According to the DPP, the doctor who was treating Outar informed his relatives and the police that Outar was dying. The doctor even permitted the police to speak with Outar in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital.
“According to the law, in these circumstances, the police are required to take a dying declaration statement but failed to do so. The DPP has advised that the Office of the Professional Responsibility of the Guyana Police Force investigate why a dying declaration statement was not taken from Outar although according to the doctor, they were aware that he was dying and spoke with him just prior to his death.”
During Mc Lean’s appearance in the Albion Magistrates Court, Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Orin Joseph, stated that June 10, 2015, Ravi Outar, along with Meschell Outar, was sitting around a table in front their shop, when two men approached. One of the men was armed with a small handgun, and he discharged five rounds at Outar, causing him to receive injuries.
However, Outar managed to wrestle with one of his attackers and it was during the altercation that Outar observed a parked motorcar a few rods away. He also observed the accused in the driver’s seat.
The other gunman, who was earlier wrestling with Outar, escaped in the vehicle.
Outar was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital before being transferred to the GPHC. Outar, a former policeman during the ‘crime wave’ era, was shot in the foot in 2002 when gunmen attacked the patrol vehicle that he was driving in the Coldingen area.
Constable Alleyne was killed while Constable Cruickshank and Corporal Geness (now Chief Inspector Geness) were wounded. The patrol vehicle was later set on fire by the gunmen.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Land, taxes and penalties
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-The American humorist Will Rogers once remarked that the best investment on earth is earth... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
