Latest update August 9th, 2026 12:45 AM
Apr 24, 2017 News
– had tried to burn down sister’s home
A mentally ill man is at risk of losing one of his arms after he was brutally chopped by relatives of another man, whom he attacked with a cutlass at Sophia yesterday morning.
Hospitalized in a critical condition are Paul Douglas, also known as ‘Zeff’, who is of unsound mind and Calvin Mercurius. Both of them are age 25.
Kaieteur News understands that Douglas who is in the habitat of ‘smoking’ and threatening villagers had an altercation with one of his sisters during which he struck her with a bottle and promised to burn down the apartment she occupies at Lot 207 Seventh Field Section ‘A’ Sophia. Around midnight yesterday, Douglas made good on that promise and set alight a mattress that was in his sister’s room on the ground floor of the two story premises.
The Guyana Fire Service responded promptly and the blaze was contained.
The circumstances surrounding the chopping of the two men are unclear but some reports indicate that Mercurius might have confronted Douglas after he set the room alight.
According to reports, the mentally ill man became angry when he was confronted by the other man and dealt him several chops about the body before the man’s relatives came to the victim’s aid. Based on reports, after the other man’s family realized the severity of the attack they attacked Douglas and dealt him several chops about the body.
The injured men were immediately rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). From all indications Douglas got the worst of the altercation and chances are that his arm might be amputated.
Neighbours say that the man who has his ‘moments’ will normally be in the area brandishing a cutlass and threatening to harm residents. Another neighbour said that Douglas was taken away many times by police because of his erratic behaviour but as soon as he is released from hospital he always returns home.
It was only yesterday that neighbours contacted the police after they became concerned by the man’s ‘odd’ behaviour. When the police visited neighbours said that the ranks were unable to remove the man from the house and they subsequently left.
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