Matters before the court that involve GDF ranks

Sep 19, 2021 News

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By Renay Sambach

Kaieteur News – In this edition of the ‘The Court Journal,’ I will highlight matters in which members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were charged and placed before the court for allegedly committing a crime.

On March 17, 2021, a Lance Corporal of the GDF was charged with causing the death of a Providence, East Bank Demerara woman by dangerous driving.
The defendant, 23-year-old Jason Butters, of Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara, and his lawyer, Stanley Moore, S.C., appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan.
The rank had denied the charge, which alleges that on December 15, 2020, on the McDoom Public Road, East Bank Demerara, he drove motor vehicle, PTT 4166, in a manner dangerous to the public and thereby causing the death of Ameena Sooklall.
The police prosecutor told the court that on the day in question around 23:45hrs, Butters was heading to Georgetown and while in the vicinity of the Shell Gas Station, he fell asleep at the wheel thus crashing into the median.
As a result of the crash, Sooklall who was in the passenger seat was pinned and received multiple injuries about her body. She was taken out of the wreckage and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
It was reported that Butters was also hospitalised. After he was discharged, he was arrested and subsequently charged with causing the death of Sooklall by dangerous driving. The rank is presently out on $150,000 bail as the matter continues in court.

In another matter, another Lance Corporal of the GDF is facing multiple charges after he was caught on camera brutally assaulting a police officer.
Lance Corporal, Kester Bowen, had appeared in the Wales Magistrate’s Court where he was slapped with several traffic charges.
The charges were read to him by Principal Magistrate, Faith McGusty. Bowen pleaded guilty to the offences, which stated that on October 9, 2020, he was driving an uninsured and uncertified motor vehicle.
The GDF rank also committed the offence of driving a vehicle with prohibited tinted glass. He was fined $25,000, $10,000 and $7,500 respectively for the three offences.
He was later charged with assaulting the police officer and resisting arrest. On that court appearance, he was placed on bail pending the outcome of the matter.
According to reports, Bowen was seen by Constable Wilson, switching lanes with his motor car along the Meer-Zorgen Public Road located on the western end of the Demerara Harbour Bridge. This move reportedly caused a traffic congestion and Wilson who was on patrol duties approached Bowen’s car and instructed him to pull over to the side of the road.
Eyewitnesses said that Bowen became annoyed, exited his vehicle and “chucked Wilson.” Bowen was warned of his action by Wilson, but Bowen ignored him and he suffered a brutal assault.
Based on a video seen, Bowen was seen choking Wilson and punching him repeatedly to the face and body. Persons were heard advising Wilson to call for backup and called Bowen’s actions “disrespectful.” The video ended with Bowen throwing Wilson to the ground and re-entering his car.
Bowen was subsequently apprehended by Wilson with the help of other ranks and taken to the La Grange Police Station. Wilson later received medical attention at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Moreover, the GDF had sent out a press release condemning Bowen’s misconduct and gave all assurance that it will cooperate with the police in ensuring that he faces the full brunt of the law.
In addition, just last month a Sergeant of the GDF was among three persons remanded for a multi-million-dollar gold heist.
Sergeant, Keyon King, 32, had appeared before Magistrate, Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, alongside his alleged accomplices – two security guards, Delroy Jackson aka ‘Bug’, 36, and Peon Lee, 36, better known as “Nino Brown.”
The trio was charged with robbery under arms. After the charge was read to them, Jackson and Lee pleaded not guilty but King, the GDF Sergeant, pleaded guilty.
As such, the Magistrate remanded the two security guards to prison and deferred King’s sentencing to later that day.
However, when the matter was called for sentencing for the Sergeant, the defendant moved to change an initial guilty plea after “clearing his head.”
He reportedly told the court that at the time when he pleaded guilty his head was not clear and reasoned that it was unclear because he had no knowledge that he would be placed before the court.
As a result, he too was remanded. The three are accused of armed robbery committed on a gold trading company called Wallison Enterprise.
Three armed men had entered the business establishment located at Gordon Street, Kitty, Georgetown, posing as gold dealers. Unsuspecting employees attended to them but were held at gunpoint and forced to open two metal safes before being handcuffed with plastic zip ties and locked in a room. After they were rescued, they learnt that the men had carted off $38M in cash and $20M worth of raw gold. The bandits had also stolen one of the employees’ gold jewellery and cellphones.
Cops had moved to arrest one of the security guards of the establishment, Jackson, on the same day the crime was perpetrated. Investigations led to the arrest of Lee, another security guard who was employed at the company.
Detectives later raided the Sophia home of another suspect and found evidence linking that individual to the crime. That suspect however, is still to be arrested but as the investigations progressed, detectives were led to the West Coast Demerara home of King, the GDF sergeant.
Buried in his backyard was a total of $18M, part of the cash stolen in the heist. King was arrested and taken into custody. Persons of interest were questioned too but were released and, according to sources, detectives were able to obtain a confession from King and the two security guards admitting their involvement in the crime.
Based on what Kaieteur News was told, it was the two security guards who had allegedly set up the heist on Wallison Enterprise.

 

 

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