United Kingdom firearm expert Dr Mark Robinson is prepared to travel to Guyana at the earliest opportunity to observe ballistics tests on fragments and bullets recovered from the Linden shooting and to conduct his own independent tests, AFC executive Nigel Hughes said yesterday.
Hughes, an attorney, who is watching over the interest of the relatives of Shemroy Bouyea, Allan Lewis and Ron Somerset, who were shot dead near the Mackenzie- Wismar Bridge, has written to acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell requesting that Robinson be facilitated.
In the letter, which was delivered to the commissioner’s office yesterday, it was stated that fragments of the full-jacketed bullets recovered from the bodies of the deceased are in the custody of the police and will no doubt be tested.
As a result, the services of Robinson had been retained and the international forensic expert is prepared to travel to Guyana for the purpose of observing the conduct of the ballistics tests and possibility conducting his own independent tests.
“We write to request your permission to allow Dr Robinson to observe the aforementioned tests and possibly conduct his own independent tests. We will require at least 36 hours notice to facilitate Dr Robinson’s travel arrangements,” the letter, which was signed by Hughes, stated.
Hughes stated that in the meantime, he would be sending photos of the fragments recovered to Robinson. He said the forensic expert is well qualified to partake in this aspect of the investigation, noting that he had a string of qualifications and has assisted in several high-profile murder investigations.
According to information provided by Hughes, Robinson has a PhD in Solid State Physics and a BSc (Hons) in Applied Physics both from the University of London.
Hughes described him as a Senior Forensic Scientist (Firearms Examiner) experienced in the laboratory and crime-scene examination of firearms and ammunition; the identification of bullets, cartridge cases and other fired materials; the interpretation of firing marks, projectile damage and wound characteristics; and in distance-of-firing and trajectory reconstructions.
Robinson has been working in this field since 1987 and among the cases he assisted in several murder cases. He has also assisted a number of cases for the Independent Police Complaints Commis-sion involving the lethal use of firearms by the police (2005-6) and in 2010 he received a Head of Depart-ment Commendation from West Yorkshire Police for his work on a complex homicide.
According to his portfolio,
Hughes also told Stabroek News that the AFC is aiming to complete its own independent investigation before the August 2 deadline for terms of reference for the Commission of Inquiry to be set up into the shooting.
Police had said that they had to resort to using tear gas and later fired shotgun cartridges at protestors, after missiles were hurled at them—an account challenged by some of the injured and others present at the protest. A post-mortem examination on the bodies of the three men on Wednesday determined that they were killed by live rounds and it was suggested that these were fired from handguns.
Brumell has said that a full-scale investigation is ongoing to determine who is culpable. Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, however, has noted that there are a lot of gaps in the investigation and more so only four shotgun cartridges were found to be missing following an audit of the ammunition taken to the scene that day. He said the indication is that those cartridges unaccounted for were used during the protest.
