Cop charged with obstructing justice claims he was threatened to cover-up shooting

Cop charged with obstructing justice claims he was threatened to cover-up shooting – lawyer tells court

Jul 06, 2022 News

…Quindon Bacchus’ murder

Kaieteur News – Two policemen were on Tuesday charged separately for their involvement in the shooting death of Quindon Bacchus. They were charged for allegedly perverting the course of justice by providing false information to investigators.

Remanded for also perverting the course of justice, Thurston Simon

The defendants, Thurston Simon, 24, of Bareroot, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Dameion McLennon, 35, of Lot 95 B Field Sophia appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, via Zoom to answer to the charge.

Simon via his lawyer, Everton Lammy, told the court that he was threatened by one of his superiors not to give any details to investigators in the alleged gunning down of Bacchus who was shot dead on June 10, last by one of his colleague, Kristoff DeNobrega at Haslington Housing Scheme, ECD.

DeNobrega has since been remanded to prison on a charge of murder and now Simon and McLennon are before the courts for perverting the course of justice by giving false information about the case to investigators. They were both remanded until July 12, 2022 and are expected to return to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for their second court appearance.

Simon was also charged departmentally within the force with conduct prejudice to good order and discipline, contrary to section 4(z) of the Police (Discipline) Act, Chapter 17:01. Bacchus was killed during an alleged sting operation. It was alleged that he had shot at DeNobrega first during the operation but the court has since heard that ballistic tests suggesting that a gun allegedly found in the victim’s possession was not in working order. Bacchus was reportedly shot seven times.

Remanded for perverting the course of justice, Dameion McLennon

Police had initially reported that its rank had shot Bacchus at Haslington, ECD during a sting operation. It was alleged that ranks had learnt that Bacchus had an illegal gun to sell. Police alleged that arrangements were made for an undercover cop to purchase the gun from him.

The undercover cop allegedly showed up to do business but while Bacchus was allegedly handing over the weapon, someone reportedly blew his cover. Police further alleged that after Bacchus realised that he was caught in a sting operation, he shot at the cop. The policeman reportedly returned fire and Bacchus ran away and jumped into a yard where he shot at the rank again.

The policeman alleged that he took cover and fired back again, and this time, Bacchus was struck to his body and he fell to the ground. An injured Bacchus was picked up and rushed to a hospital where he died while receiving treatment. However, video footage has contradicted the police statement. The video footage seen by this newspaper showed Bacchus running away from the policeman and appeared to have never fired any shot as was alleged. A post mortem conducted revealed that Bacchus died of multiple gunshot wounds.

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