The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) yesterday said that as of Friday, July 30th it had not received the police file in relation to the shooting of 25-year-old Gladys Benedict by Region Nine Regional Executive Officer (REO), Karl Singh.
Stabroek News had reported in yesterday’s edition that on July 22nd, Police Commander of Region 9, Raphael Rose had said that the file was sent to the DPP for legal advice. When contacted again yesterday, Rose said that the case file had indeed been dispatched to Georgetown for legal advice in the matter. However, he explained that there is usually a channel which the file passes through before it reaches the DPP’s office.
“To say definitely that the file is with the DPP would be inaccurate but it was sent to Georgetown for legal advice. I am not sure which part of the channel it is presently”, Rose said.
The police had said around 11pm on 17th July, at the Commercial Zone, Lethem, Singh and Benedict were in a motor vehicle belonging to Singh, when he shot her in the abdomen.
Benedict was taken to the Lethem Regional Hospital by Singh where she immediately underwent surgery.
According to police, Singh was subsequently arrested and escorted to the Lethem Police Station where his licensed firearm was seized and lodged. A few days later, the police said that their investigation had revealed that the shooting was accidental. Singh who had been in police custody since his arrest, was then placed on station bail.
