Cop says colleague and attempt murder accused were “friendly”

Jun 02, 2018 News

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Police Constable Rawle King told a 12-member mixed jury that his colleague, Lance Corporal Singh was “friendly” with a businessman who is currently on trial for two counts of attempted murder over shooting a man and his nephew, and as a result was removed from investigating the matter.
Constable King, who is stationed at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, was at the time testifying in the trial of businessman Deryck Jaisingh.
The trial continued yesterday before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court on Georgetown.
It is alleged that on November 2, 2014, Jaisingh discharged a loaded firearm at Sherwin Hamilton, called Nasty Man, with intent to commit murder.
It is further alleged that on the same day, at the same location, Jaisingh discharged a loaded firearm at Welton Edwards, with intent to commit murder.
Edwards is Hamilton’s uncle.
The accused, who is being represented by Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes in association with Attorney-at-law Ganesh Hira, has pleaded not guilty to both charges. He is out on a total of $800,000 bail.
It is alleged that on the day in question, virtual complainants, Sherwin Hamilton and Welton Edwards, were at Old Road, Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara when they received a report that one of their relatives was being assaulted on the Land of Canaan Public Road.
When they arrived, the two men and Jaisingh allegedly became involved in a confrontation. As a result, it is alleged that Jaisingh, who was a licensed firearm holder at the time, took out his weapon and discharged some 13 rounds in the victims’ direction, causing them severe bodily harm.
During his time in the witness box, Constable Frank told the court that Lance Corporal Singh was the lead investigator, at some stage, during investigations into the shooting incident.
The witness, however, went on to tell the court that Lance Corporal Singh was subsequently removed from the case after certain allegations were leveled against him. As a result, the court heard from the police witness that the case was handed over to Sergeant Henry.
According to Constable King, Lance Corporal Singh and Jaisingh were “friendly and allegations were being made, so the matter was handed over to Sergeant Henry.”
When questioned by State Prosecutor Lisa Cave to explain what he meant by “friendly”, Constable King said, “I had seen them (Lance Corporal Singh and Jaisingh) conversing on multiple occasions while Jaisingh was in custody at the Criminal Investigation Department at Timehri Police Station.”
Asked by Prosecutor Cave to describe how the men were conversing, Constable King stated, “Like two friends. They were gaffing.”
Earlier on in his testimony, the police witness told the court that around 12:15 am on November 3, 2014, he was performing duties at the Inquiries Section of the aforementioned police station, when he received a phone call regarding a shooting incident, which involved two men in the vicinity of Old Road, Land of Canaan.
He said that he and two other police ranks travelled to the scene and upon arriving they saw Edwards lying face down on Land of Canaan Public Road. He further said that while inspecting the man, he noticed two dark spots on his lower body, which appeared to be gunshot wounds. The police witness also said that Edwards was bleeding from both eyes.
Constable King recalled that after receiving certain information, he went to Old Road Land of Canaan, where he saw Hamilton lying in the middle of the road in what appeared to be a pool of blood.
“He (Hamilton) was crying out for pain. I raised up his jersey and saw what appeared to be gunshot wounds.”
According to the witness, an injured Hamilton was placed in a vehicle and transported to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he was told by a nurse that there were no doctors on duties.
This, he added, led to Hamilton being taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was admitted as a patient. About a month after the shooting, Constable King recounted that he visited the Registry at the Georgetown Public Hospital from where he uplifted two medical certificates—one each in favour of the virtual complainants.
He said that the documents, which were lodged at the Grove Police Station, were later tendered as evidence by him in the Magistrates’ Courts.
Yesterday, after no objections were raised by defence counsel, the medical certificates were tendered by Constable King and were also admitted and marked as evidence in the trial by Justice Kissoon.
Also testifying was Gregory Hamilton, a brother of Sherwin Hamilton. Gregory testified that during November, 2014 he resided at Land of Canaan.
He stated that on November 3, 2014 at around 12:10 am, he was awakened by his girlfriend who he said told him something. As a result, Gregory said that he went to the gate where he saw his mother and sister, who both told him something.
According to Gregory, he and his relatives ran out to Land of Canaan Public Road, where he saw Sherwin lying on the ground with what appeared to be gunshot wounds on his body.
“I and officer King picked up Sherwin and put him into my brother-in-law’s car and rushed him to the Diamond Hospital. I drove the vehicle. When we were there, the nurse told us something and then the car I was driving ran out of gas,” Gregory recounted.
Based on what he was told by the nurse, the witness added that his brother was placed into another vehicle, which was driven by Constable King, and was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
During cross-examination by Hughes, Gregory was asked if either he or his brother knew Constable King prior to the incident. The witness responded in the negative.
This trial is continuing.

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