Guyanese family returns overseas in fear

Feb 14, 2017 News

…after home attack by man of unsound mind

Even as the Guyana Government is calling on persons living overseas to return home and help develop Guyana, a number are leaving in fear after being the subject of various misdemeanors.

Leon Williams after he was apprehended.

An overseas-based Guyanese family has quietly returned overseas in absolute fear after their home was broken into on Old Year’s Day.
Mrs Eunette De Nobrega, and her family who have been travelling between Canada and Guyana over the years, returned to Guyana mid-last year with the hope of spending time with family and friends and to have a good Guyanese Christmas and celebrate Old and New Year’s.
According to the woman, before returning home they were constantly warned to be extra careful due to the many social ills and misdemeanors being committed in Guyana. They were warned not to travel alone and not to wear jewellery.
However despite all their precautions her home at Lot 20 Winkle Street, New Amsterdam was broken into on Old Year’s Day. What was horrifying is that the incident was committed in broad day light even as a number of persons were at home. The perpetrator managed to break a window but was unable to get into the house because of the grill work.
The woman stated that she lived with her husband, two sons and daughter in the two flat house which is well secured. Most of the times, she would be in the lower flat of the building.
Relating her horrifying story, Mrs. De Nobrega stated that, on Old Year’s Day, she was at home with her husband, one of her sons, his fiancée and her daughter. She was in the lower flat of the building, doing her chores whilst the others were upstairs.
Her Old Year’s preparations and New Year’s plans were suddenly jolted, when she heard the gate being rocked furiously. To the horror of Miss De Nobrega an intruder, who turned out to be a man of unsound mind, barged into the yard after kicking down the gate.
She then heard a voice yelling,”Who lives here? Ah gun get you today.” She began screaming as the person then proceeded to break two of the windows in the lower flat in an effort to get into the house. She was by then petrified, as she recalled all the warnings that the family had received before and upon arriving in Guyana.
Her husband and the others heard the commotion and quickly armed themselves and ran downstairs. There they were confronted by the well-dressed man who had a haversack on his back. She stated that her plight might have been saved because, luckily her husband, son his fiancée and daughter were at home at the time. What also saved her was the fact that the house was grilled.
The intruder, upon being confronted quickly exited the yard. He began running away with residents in hot pursuit. The police were contacted and responded promptly. The man who was later identified as Leon Williams of Edinburgh was cornered and captured by the police about 200 meters away in the vicinity of the New Amsterdam Hospital and the New Amsterdam Technical Institute.
He was brought back to the scene where a confrontation was held and the man was positively identified as the culprit who moments earlier had forcefully entered the yard and broke the windows.
He was charged with damage to property, and the matter was subsequently dropped after it was found out that he was of unsound mind.
Mrs. Nobrega said that after the incident she took ill and could not participate in any activities. She suffered from fever and shock and had to be constantly treated by her doctor and be confined to bed.
Although she had planned to stay for a long time, amidst fear, she had to cut short her time in Guyana and has since left the country.