Attorney Gordon Gilhuys has been reported to the police for allegedly making a death threat to a snow cone vendor—an accusation he has denied.
Julius Chapman said Gilhuys, a retired magistrate, also damaged his snow cone cart, which is the sole source of his livelihood.
Both men made complaints against each other at the Brickdam Police Station, following their altercation yesterday afternoon along Hadfield Street, at the rear of the St Stanislaus College, where Chapman had parked his cart behind Gilhuys’ vehicle.
Chapman said Gilhuys subsequently took him by surprise with a series of curse words. He said this course of action caused him to retaliate in kind. After the clash of words, the snow cone vendor said Gilhuys threatened him but was cautioned against acting rashly by a female occupant of his vehicle.
Chapman said Gilhuys then pushed his cart down and drove away, but not before telling him he could do whatever he liked.
An eyewitness at the scene said: “What Gilhuys did was wrong. He should not have just came fuming out like that. He should’ve asked the man to just move his cart.”
Another added, “Is share bullyism” and pointed out that the Gilhuys should have just asked Chapman to remove his cart.
Other persons, when questioned, refused to talk to this newspaper and said they did not see anything. One of them was overheard voicing fear for his safety.
Meanwhile, Gilhuys told Stabroek News that it was Chapman who started cursing him after he asked him to move his cart and as he went back into his car. He said Chapman continued and eventually told him that he was having an affair with his wife.
Seeing this as the ultimate form of disrespect, Gilhuys said he stepped out of his car and pushed Chapman’s cart down and then went on with his business. Gilhuys denied making any death threats and accused Chapman of being a liar.
Both of the men reported the altercation to the Brickdam Police Station and investigations are ongoing.
Chapman said he is hoping something will come of his report because he has six children to take care of and another on the way and his cart is the only way he provides for them.
Gilhuys, a former policeman, was previously the subject of police investigations after incidents in which he shot a police officer in the chest and accidently shot a football player in the shin. In both cases, the Director of Public Prosecutions recommended that no charges be brought against him.
In February 2009, the Judicial Service Commission sent him off on early retirement from the magistracy in the public interest. This came nearly eight months after the incident in which the policeman was shot.
