– police say they were self-inflicted
Heston Bostwick, who turned himself into the police for questioning on Friday, with regard to a previously undisclosed investigation, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital yesterday with stab wounds to the chest.
The police have since denied any involvement, saying that the injuries were self-inflicted.
Reports are that Bostwick received five stitches for a deep wound in the chest and was later released back into police custody. He is currently being held at the Brickdam Police Station.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said yesterday that the police are holding Bostwick in connection with the fire at the Ministry of Health. He said the police are also interested in Archie Poole with regard to the same investigation, but that Poole has not been located.
It was the first official confirmation that the authorities were in search of Bostwick and Poole for the Health Ministry fire, which was sparked by channa bombs. They had announced on Thursday that they were seeking both men to assist in “an investigation”- the press statement did not say which investigation.
Persaud said firmly that the police had no hand in the injuries Bostwick suffered. He told Stabroek News that Bostwick inflicted the injuries on himself after refusing to enter the lock-ups at the request of officers at the station. He offered no specific details about what happened and the injuries Bostwick suffered.
Bostwick’s attorney Basil Williams said yesterday that he would get to the bottom of it while noting that he was concerned about “this new development”. Williams was out of town for the day and was unable to see his client. However he said that attorney Llewellyn John was on the ground making representations for Bostwick.
Williams charged that the police have unlawfully detained Bostwick, a well-known personality in the city, declaring that there is no reasonable ground for the detention. He said there must be reasonable suspicion for the authorities to detain someone, adding that the Bostwick case has none. Further, he said that he made representation for Bostwick at the level of the Police Commissioner, but that Henry Greene said at the time that he was unaware of the case.
Though she was unable to speak with her husband prior to him being rushed to the hospital, Nicola Bostwick told Stabroek News yesterday that the police are suggesting that Bostwick broke a glass window and stabbed himself in the chest.
“I don’t have the facts this is what I was told. I have to speak with my husband,” she stated.
She said that a check at the hospital revealed that her husband sustained a few stab wounds in the chest area, and that one particularly deep wound took five stitches. She said the whole story was baffling, but reiterated that she would first need to speak with her husband.
The woman was adamant that Bostwick is being targeted by the authorities. She said that he was at home on the night of the inferno at the ministry and that “he knew nothing about that”. Accord-ing to her, he was made aware of what had happened while on the way to teach a class.
She said that her husband decided to turn himself over to the police after the statement was issued about him and Poole. She said that he went in on Friday morning around 10 am with his attorney and was promptly detained.
“I asked a senior officer [name given] at the station why they were holding my husband and he snapped back if I ain’t know that they want him for the ministry fire,” the woman related.
Opposition leader Robert Corbin had informed the media of Bostwick’s detention on Friday during his party’s weekly press conference. Corbin later told Stabroek News that “a medical was conducted on him [Bostwick] so we know that his health was stable before he went into police custody…this was done as a precaution.”
Corbin had also mentioned reports which he said indicated that a group of men had been at Bostwick’s home in search of him but the man was not at home.
