Police refute claims by Hughes surrounding charge of Henry relative

Jul 02, 2021 News

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Haresh Singh murder…

– say lawyer attempting to pervert the course of justice

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has moved to refute claims made by attorney Nigel Hughes, that it unfairly instituted a charge against a relative of the Joel and Isaiah Henry for the murder of Haresh Singh, 17 without interviewing his alibis.

The relative identified as Glaston Henry better known as Gladwin was among four suspects remanded on Tuesday, for murdering Singh in Number Tree Village Backdam, West Coast Berbice (WCB). Glaston is the elder brother of Isaiah, 16 and cousin of Joel, 19, whose
mutilated bodies were found dumped on a coconut estate at the Cotton Tree Backdam on September 7, last year. As riots broke out in the communities around Number Three, Haresh Singh was discovered brutally injured in what was suspected as revenge of the murder of the Henry boys since one of the initial suspects in the killing was Singh’s grandfather.

This is the second Henry relative to be charged for what has been seen as a reprisal killing in four months. In April, Mark Anthony Henry, brother of Joel and cousin of Isaiah, was remanded to prison for the murder of his neighbour, 68-year-old Surojdeo Deochand called “Sarjie, another man who was initially arrested and released in relation to the Henry cousins’ murders.

Glaston Henry was arrested on Saturday after he turned himself in, in the company of Hughes, following the police issuing a wanted notice for him in relation to Haresh Singh’s murder. Earlier this week, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had advised that he be charged with the capital offence after one of the other three suspects implicated him as the mastermind of the crime. That suspect had reportedly confessed too that the motive behind the heinous act was revenge for the murder of the Henry cousins.

Hughes yesterday, during a press conference, made claims that his client was elsewhere during the time of Singh’s murder and has since written the DPP to review his murder charge. The lawyer alleged that Henry has an alibi as testified to by multiple witnesses but the police had made no attempt to interview them. The alibi witnesses who were present with him during the press conference said that Henry was at home with them during the time of the murder watching a live recording by his father, Gladston Henry, of the autopsy being performed on the bodies of the Henry cousins.

Galston Henry’s mother, Patricia Henry, claimed that a police officer identified as “Sarrabo” had visited their home around the same time and seen her son at home.
“Sarrabo fully well know that my son was in the back yard… Officer Sarrabo, you know the truth,” she told reporters yesterday. Another relative, Claudette Kurtzious, claimed this too and added that Henry was drinking “red wine and turbo” with the rest of the family including herself.
“All of us were there. When we hear that this Haresh get murder, we went out on the bridge and come back inside,” she said. Hughes then lashed out at GPF, criticising its investigators for not doing a proper job in seeking to interview the persons providing the alibi before charging Henry.

In response, to the claims made by Hughes, however, GPF yesterday issued a statement beginning, “The Guyana Police Force (GPF) notes with serious concern the allegations made by Nigel Hughes, Attorney-at-Law, who represents Glaston Henry (aka Gladwin Henry) that an insufficient investigation was done as it relates to the purported alibi witnesses. The GPF wishes to set the facts straight since it appears that Mr. Hughes insists on conducting a trial of this matter in the court of public opinion although this matter is ‘sub judice’.”

The GPF stated that it had conducted a video interview with Henry on Saturday, June 26, and at no time did he mention that he had an alibi or say he was elsewhere. Instead, related the GPF, Henry exercised his right to remain silent. It was after the video interview, the released stated, that Hughes told an investigator that Henry was elsewhere and had witnesses. Police claimed that despite informing the investigator about the alibis, Hughes did not “put any alibi on record nor did he submit an oral or written statement during the video interview that were conducted.”

Added in the release, “Pre-prepared statements were later delivered to the investigators at the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Headquarters located at Eve Leary after 16:00 on Monday, June 28.”
The Police Force claimed that immediately after receiving the statements, its investigators made “earnest efforts to contact the witnesses”.
“The assistance of senior officers stationed in Region 5 were also solicited and they could not locate two of these witnesses namely Bibi Shaheman and Claudette Kurtzious at their given addresses,” the release stated.

GPF added, “It should also be noted that these purported alibi witnesses directly contradict other individuals who placed Henry in the company of the other suspects at Haresh Singh’s home and at the scene of the crime at the material time”.

The Force said that “it is now seeking all nine of Henry’s “purported alibis in connection with their alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice.”

With regard to Hughes’ claim that the family had gathered to view a livestream of the autopsy of the Henry cousins done by Gladston Henry, the father of Isaiah and Glaston Henry, who was said to have “remained at the location for the entire day as confirmed by each of the above witnesses”, the GPF produced video in support of their contestation of that claim, saying that not only did Gladston Henry not have a recording/streaming device in his hand but “briefly entered and exited the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home where the post mortem examination was being conducted for the sole purpose of identifying the body of his son, Isaiah Henry.”

With regards to claims made that a police officer, Sarrabo, had visited the Henry home and family had seen him there during time of the autopsy on the bodies of the Henry cousins and the murder of Singh, the GPF provided video evidence to show that Inspector Sarrabo was present not at the Henry home at the time of the autopsy but at Memorial Gardens, located in Le Repentir Cemetery, Georgetown. The Henry family home is in Berbice.

Based on the evidence provided by GPF, the inspector was spotted twice in separate video recordings. The first was in the background of a video recording of the post mortem examination by the investigators. He was also spotted in the background of a Prime News video while a reporter was interviewing Hughes at Memorial Gardens.
“Finally, in light of the above,” the release noted, “the GPF wishes to also reiterate that it has discharged its mandate in completing the investigation and sending the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice. The charges were instituted upon the legal advice received from the DPP and therefore, to indicate that this charge is a miscarriage of justice is wholly unmeritorious and can only be viewed as a desperate and deliberate attempt to pervert the course of justice.”

 

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