Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) retired Justice Cecil Kennard was forced to stick to his recommendation that an inquest be held into the fatal police shooting of Ryan Couchman after the man’s relatives failed to deliver on a promise to bring eyewitnesses.
Justice Kennard said last week that it was rather unfortunate that Couchman’s relatives did not honour their promise. He kept the case file in his possession for over a month but no one showed up.
Kennard explained that Couchman’s wife and another relative had visited his office and informed that there were persons who could challenge the account of the shooting given by the police. At the time, he said he had already completed his review of the matter and had recommended an inquest since he felt that there were too many outstanding questions.
In a statement on the January 4 shooting, police had said an armed policeman in plain clothes was attacked and robbed of his gold jewellery by three men at Soesdyke. “During the robbery, the policeman, who was being repeatedly assaulted by the perpetrators, discharged a round which fatally wounded one of the men [Couchman],” it added. The two accomplices managed to escape.
According to Kennard, given the fact that there wasn’t much information in the case file and no one who witnessed the actual shooting, he decided to allow the family time to bring the purported witnesses forward. He said he waited weeks but they never returned and he just assumed that they were no longer interested.
The Chairman appealed to members of the public who can assist the PCA in any investigation to come forward. “The idea of the PCA is to get to the truth. We don’t want the guilty to go scotch free,” he said, while adding that the PCA needs the cooperation of the public.
Police had also said that Couchman, a 34-year-old resident of Lot 1360 18th Street, Diamond
