By Heppilena Ferguson
Even as the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) continues its investigations into the alleged negligence at the Sparendaam Police Station on the day high-profile prisoner Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles escaped, the station sergeant and at least three juniors have been transferred, pending the outcome.
A source close to the investigations told Stabroek News yesterday that the OPR has not yet concluded investigations and so the source could not speak to the reasons for the transfers. The source said the unit was still in the process of compiling its list of recommended sanctions. The sanctions would then be forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, where they would be supported, or recommendations made for any altering or additional sanctions. The DPP could also pronounce on whether the investigations should be extended. And in this particular case, where those who are being investigated are a sergeant and those lower in rank, the police commissioner would ultimately have the final say, the source explained.
At a press conference last week, Police Commissioner (ag) Henry Greene had insisted that the force was viewing the issues as serious and that some officers would be interdicted from duty if found guilty of negligence on that day. When approached by this newspaper for comment on the transfers, Greene said the matter was internal and that he would not discuss any internal matter.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee was also asked about the sanctions on Tuesday at a press conference and he had said that he was not ready to make any such disclosures and that they would be made in due course.
No word
Meanwhile police are still interested in questioning Charles’s mother who has not yet made herself available. In an interview with this newspaper last week, the woman had denied the claims levelled against her by the police.
The police had said that they had visited the woman’s home on the day her son escaped and had found the house abandoned. They had also said that the woman and her teenage daughter were seen at the magistrate’s court on the day Skinny got away from the lock-ups.
Both the woman and her daughter denied this. The woman said she was at work on the day shift and while she tried her best to attend court whenever her son’s case was called, she was not present that day. She had said that her daughter and another of her children went down to await Skinny’s return to the Camp Street prison and she met them there.
She said they had taken food for him, but after waiting for a while, they were told by a prison officer that he had escaped. The woman also denied hearing from her son since his escape.
A high-ranking police officer confirmed yesterday that the woman had not appeared at any police station for questioning. That source indicated that the police were still interested in questioning the woman and her daughter.
Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles escaped from the Sparendaam lock-ups last Wednesday afternoon following a court appearance at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s court. The police have since acknowledged negligence and admitted that the prisoner had a three-hour lead before a manhunt was launched for him.
Charles made good his escape through a loosened floorboard in the lockups, which had been there for some time but never repaired even though the station sergeant was aware of it.
There has been no word on the whereabouts of Charles. The police have said that resources have been dedicated to chasing after him.
Charles has been charged along with Dwight Da Silva, Quincy Evans, Terrence John, Delwayne Carrington and a boy who is now 15 years old, with a number of murders.
He was charged along with Da Silva with the murder of Barbot Paul, the Kaneville, East Bank Demerara businessman who was shot and killed outside his home on August 6. Charles is also accused of killing Devon Charles of Agricola on June 23; Guilford Henry on June 26, 2005 and 12-year-old Kevin Browne on March 18, 2006. He shares the Browne murder charge with Dego France. Charles is also charged with Da Silva and Evans with being part of a group of men who murdered five Kaieteur News pressmen – Chetram Persaud, Eion Wegman, Richard Stewart, Mark Maikoo and Shazam Mohamed in August 2006.
It is also alleged that they killed Wordsworth Grey on August 8. The 15-year-old boy, who was 13 years old then, was also charged with that murder.
Charles was then charged with the murders of former agriculture minister Satyadeow Sawh, Rajpat Sawh, Phulmattie Persaud and Curtis Robinson on April 22 at La Bonne Intention (LBI) East Coast Demerara. David Leander, called ‘Biscuit’, was also charged separately with the LBI slayings.
The police have since offered a $2 million reward for any information which made lead to Charles’s arrest.
