While the East Coast police dither over whether to charge Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall for allegedly gun whipping a teenager, then firing rounds in the air during a bar brawl over a week ago, another PPP/C Member of Parliament was not so lucky.
MP Albert Atkinson landed himself in ‘hot water’ for firing off his weapon during a confrontation with a man in Georgetown over the weekend.
Police in Georgetown have confirmed that Atkinson, who is the PPP/C MP for Region Eight (Potaro/ Siparuni) was engaged in a shooting incident on South Road last Friday night.
According to reports, the MP encountered a man who was allegedly soliciting the services of a commercial sex worker at the corner of King Street and South Road last Friday night.
The MP, according to information, ap-proached the man and asked him to desist, but the man rebuked the parliamentarian, telling him that his breath was tainted with alcohol.
The MP, reports said, whipped out his firearm and fired a few rounds in the air. He then arrested the man and took him to the Brickdam Police Station.
Stabroek News was told that Atkinson informed ranks at the station that the man was a “menace to society” and that was the reason he had arrested him. However, on further investigation police learnt that the MP, who is also a Rural Constable, had fired his weapon. Police then seized the MP’s firearm. It is not clear whether he has received it back.
Meanwhile, with regard to Lall’s case, government and PPP party officials have been silent. President Bharrat Jagdeo was expected back home yesterday from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Uganda. It is expected that he would deal with the issue.
Contacted yesterday, Commander of ‘C’ Division Leroy Brummel insisted that his officers had completed their report and the file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
An official in the DPP’s Chambers had told this newspaper on Monday that contrary to reports from the police no file was sent to the office. This newspaper could not confirm from the DPP yesterday whether the file had since been received.
Lall, who had told this newspaper that he would speak about the issue after his name was published, had later backpedalled saying he was not prepared to discuss the matter in public.
Joseph Doodnauth, the teen who had the altercation with Lall, had told this newspaper in an interview on Sunday that the minister has a steady relationship with his aunt who lives at Montrose. The young man said that on the night in question, the minister had picked up his aunt and they had gone to a barbecue at a bar on the Vryheid’s Lust Public Road.
Doodnauth said he went to the barbecue some time later with another relative and saw his aunt standing with the minister.
He said he called her over, but after she had been standing with him for a while, the minister approached them and began using expletives. He said after cursing, the minister who had a bottle of Carib Beer in his hand left, but subsequently returned and cursed him again. After the minister did this for a third time, Doodnauth said, he became angry and rebuked him.
An argument ensued and the government official took out his firearm and hit the teenager on the forehead with it. It caused a deep wound, and with blood gushing down his face, Doodnauth said, he left the rum shop for his aunt’s home.
The young man said he was pursued by the minister who drove his vehicle close to him and jammed him. He did not fall, but the minister emerged from his vehicle and fired several gunshots in the air. He also threatened him.
Doodnauth said he and the minister had settled the matter, noting that it was a family issue.
A high-ranking police officer told Stabroek News on Tuesday that there was no justification for the minister’s use of his gun and as such, he was calling on his colleagues on the East Coast Demerara to do the proper thing and charge him with negligent discharge of his firearm. The officer explained that civilians should only use their firearms if they were under attack and in serious danger and could not defend themselves by any other means. Licensed firearm holders are also permitted to use their weapons if they encounter someone committing a serious crime and the person does not desist after being warned to do so, the officer said.
“There is absolutely no justification for the minister pulling out his weapon
