John Rudolph Singh, an owner of the Guyana Variety Store and Nut Centre, is now a remanded prisoner awaiting sentencing after he admitted to shooting off his licensed gun while trying to get his wife and their three children to leave with him.
Singh, of 38 Cummings Street, Georgetown, who said he is called “Superman” and “Dog” by friends, appeared before city magistrate Ann McLennan and pleaded guilty to a charge of causing public terror.
According to the charge, he wantonly discharged a loaded firearm with intend to cause terror on August 11th, at Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara.
Prosecutor Deniro Jones told the court that because of problems in the relationship, Singh’s wife, Cynthia, left with their children and travelled to her mother’s house. He said that Singh later travelled to his mother-in-law’s house and demanded that his wife and children leave with him but they became afraid and locked themselves in at the premises. Singh then discharged several rounds from his 9mm pistol to the lock on the gate and several in the air.
Jones said that the man then drove with his children to Eve Leary, where he reported what had happened. His firearm was then seized and an investigation was conducted, resulting in the current charge.
Singh, though represented by attorney Basil Williams, asked the court’s leave to explain what had happened.
Slowly pacing back and forth in the prisoners’ dock, he then spent the better part of the next hour explaining his actions. During his submissions, he mentioned that he was rich and that he is a popular businessman and he also rattled off how many doctors, lawyers, judges and politicians he knew.
Singh said that he had earlier bought five tickets for his entire family to travel but his wife left their matrimonial home and took their children with her to her mother’s Chateau Margot residence.
He mentioned that members of his entire family are citizens of the United States and he told the children that he would take them to the US embassy to have their documents verified to travel.
However, he said his wife had threatened to divorce him and to keep their three children away from him. A silent courtroom listened as Singh spoke of how incensed he became at his wife’s and children’s refusal to answer their mobile phones, causing him to travel to his mother-in-law’s home with his loaded licensed 9mm pistol. He said that upon his arrival there, he found the gate padlocked, prompting him to call loudly for his wife and children to come out. They refused, he said, and he then encountered his brother-in-law. He said he told the man he wanted his children and the man then told him that he would never get them and that he would also find someone else for his sister.
Singh explained that because he could not gain entry to the premises, he tried to call his children out. “With the gun pointed down, my finger off the trigger but with the gun loaded, I again called loudly for my kids to get out of the house,” he recounted. There was no response. “I discharged six rounds to the padlock on the gate, splitting up a wood,” he then said, while noting that he held the gun away from any human being.
Singh added that he again called out to his children and after not getting any response again he then fired three more shots, this time into the air.
“Bow! Bow!” he exclaimed, causing persons in the public gallery to laugh.
Singh related that after gaining entry to the yard, he pushed the door but realised that it was blocked by a chair. He said he then braced it with his shoulders, at which point his three children immediately kicked into action and began rounding up their belongings to leave with him.
The man said he loudly ordered the children, including his 11-year-old daughter to leave their belongings and just get their passports to leave. He said that they told him they could not find the travel documents and as a result he ordered them to leave without them.
It was at this point that Singh said, “My name is Rudolph Singh, called ‘Superman’ and ‘Dog’ by my friends. But I like to change ‘Dog’ around to ‘God.’ So I call myself God.”
He said that after his wife refused to leave the house, he ordered his children to leave, stating “Come here, now. Your mother can stay, she’s a big woman.”
He noted that after succeeding in getting his children, they entered his hummer. He said that once he was in the vehicle with his children, he ejected the bullets from the magazine of the weapon and placed it away from the children. “I don’t like to have my firearm around my children,” he explained.
Singh said he drove to Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, where he demanded to speak with a senior officer, whom he identified as “Reid.” He said that he then ordered the police to go to Chateau Margot and arrest his brother-in-law.
After Singh’s lengthy submission, Williams asked the court for a probation report and counselling for the parties. He stressed that at no time was there any intention of his client to injure anyone or members of the public. “He pointed his gun to the ground and to the air to shoot,” Williams stressed.
After hearing the case, Magistrate McLennan informed Singh that he would be remanded to prison until tomorrow to facilitate the presentation of a probation report before sentencing.
