Magistrate concerned over absence of police witnesses

Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys on Thursday voiced his concern over police witnesses in the ammunition and firearm cases against ex-soldiers James Gibson and Oliver Hinckson not coming to court and he later issued a stern warning to the prosecution to have them in court on Monday.
The team of lawyers representing the duo voiced their frustration over the numerous delays in the case over the two years it has been before the court and called on the magistrate to exercise his authority where the police witnesses are concerned and in one instance even asked for a dismissal.
Gibson who had been absent on the last three occasions was still not present in court on Thursday. The arrest warrant which was issued by Gilhuys in January is still in effect.
The two are jointly charged with having a .38 pistol, 12 .38 rounds and 26 12-gauge shotgun cartridges on June 6, 2006 at Lot 115 Aubrey Barker Street, South Ruimveldt.
The case was called around 11 am, moments after the magistrate had dealt with the charges of advocating the commission of a terrorist act and uttering seditious statements against Hinckson.
Minutes after the matter was called the court orderly was heard calling the names of several policemen but none of them came forward.
The magistrate then asked police prosecutor Robert Tyndall if he didn’t realize the non-appearance of his witnesses was looking bad.
“Is something wrong? Why are these policemen not coming to court?” the magistrate asked Tyndall who in a low voice said that the witnesses had been warned.
The magistrate asked him if he wanted to go into the witness box and swear to that so that he could issue a warrant for them.
“This thing really getting out of hand. These policemen are not coming and I don’t know why,” Gilhuys said while shaking his head.
Attorney-at-law Leslie Sobers who is one of the lawyers representing the duo had earlier in the proceedings reminded the court that a witness had already given his evidence and had been cross-examined.
Mark Waldron, another defence counsel, later said that the prosecution had been given two years but the case had gone no where.
Following the non-appearances of the witnesses, Gilhuys asked the prosecutor where they were and he began stammering. He however said that there was an issue where Hinckson was not in the country and now Gibson is absent.
The magistrate informed him that Gibson’s absence should not be an issue because the warrant could be recalled at any time and the case could proceed ex-parte.
Attorney Nigel Hughes in adding his voice to the arguments said that in an affidavit to a constitutional motion, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud stated that Hinckson absented himself from the matter without leave and in so doing delayed the matter. According to the lawyer Persaud also said the witnesses were not turning up.
As he was reading from the affidavit, the magistrate interrupted saying that the court had granted Hinckson leave in the matter.
Speaking about the absence of the witnesses, Hughes told the magistrate that he can envision the sanctions that they deserve and then he asked the magistrate to dismiss the matter since he too had expressed astonishment over the situation.
At this point the prosecutor stood up and said that one of the witnesses had testified and exhibits were tendered in August 2006. The magistrate asked him if taking evidence since 2006 was something to be proud about.
Monday was then set as the peremptory date for the police witnesses to appear in court. The two had made their first appearance in court on June 12, 2006 and were subsequently released on $75,000 bail each. They denied the allegations that were made against them.
Two months before they were apprehended, the army had issued wanted bulletins for them, following the disappearance of 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols from GDF headquarters. They were then out of sight until police acting on a tip-off swooped on a South Ruimveldt house around 2 pm on June 6. During the search of the premises, the illegal items were reportedly found. The two men were taken to army headquarters before being handed over to police.
The trial began two months later with the testimony of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) rank Cleveland Browne. (Zoisa Fraser)