By Melissa Charles
Chaos erupted in Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle’s court yesterday when a murder accused jumped out of the dock and lunged at the magistrate who rushed off the bench before he could grab her.
Sherwin Anthony Hayles grasped the lamp on the magistrate’s desk instead just before he was grabbed by the court orderly, police officers and men who were in the courtroom. Magistrate Robertson-Ogle was by this time safely behind doors in her chambers.
The prosecution table and bench crashed to the ground and with files flying all over the men fought for more than five minutes to control Hayles. He was handcuffed and tied after being subdued. Meanwhile, persons in the courtroom fled, a few of then screaming.
Hayles, charged with the murder of Joel Savory, behaved strangely from the time he entered the court around 11.15 yesterday morning.
When the magistrate asked Hayles where he lived, he replied “in the low coastal plain.” When pressed, he said, “right now I have no fixed place of abode”. Asked how old he was, he said he thought his age was 31, but he was not sure.
When the indictable charge was read to Hayles, he hollered, “Excuse me! Pardon me! But why you put me pun murder and not manslaughter?”
When his next court date was set, the orderly asked him to step out of the dock. At this time, Hayles addressed the magistrate saying, “But I ain’t even know your name.”
The magistrate told him that was not necessary and without anyone realising his intention, Hayles leapt out the dock and over the bar table.
Attorney-at law James Bond, the only lawyer at the bar table at the time, attempted to grab the man but missed. However, he helped subdue the man.
Magistrate Robertson-Ogle returned to the bench about one hour after the incident yesterday.
Meanwhile, Hayles was taken away in the prison van, which returned for him around 12.20 pm. His next court date is May 23 at the Providence Magistrate’s Court.
Joel Savory, 41, a father of three and a resident of Lot 37 Friendship, East Bank Demerara was stabbed to death on the morning of May 1, a short distance from his home. Investigations revealed that Savory was walking along the street when Hayles confronted him.
There was an exchange of words during which Savory was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle. He was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he died while receiving medical attention. The incident had sent shockwaves through the East Bank community in which Savory grew up.
A while after the incident, Magistrate Robertson-Ogle, in a brief interview, said the issue of more security in court was a “tired and weary one.” She said stricter security measures were needed not only in all magistrates’ court, but at their homes also.
The magistrate said the incident and its implications were discussed with Superintendent David Ramnarine, who is in charge of security at the court, when he visited her chambers minutes after the incident.
Magistrate Robertson-Ogle said that after rushing off the bench and into her chambers, she and the clerks had braced the door to keep it shut, since they were hearing the loud commotion and were not sure if Hayles had been subdued. Another clerk had stepped out with the keys to the door.
Security was beefed up earlier in the year at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court after a man of unsound mind had entered that same courtroom and threatened everyone with a toy gun. The man had then run out of the courtroom and out the back gate before officers could have grabbed him. That gate has been locked since the incident and persons entering the courts were being scanned with a metal detector. However, this system seems to have become lax as many people walk in at will.
Yesterday’s incident was reminiscent of February 21, when Lusignan slaughter accused James Anthony Hyles appeared in the same court. His relatives had begun screaming and chaos erupted in court causing the magistrate to step off the bench until order was restored.
