Bethel Chimezie was yesterday remanded to prison after he was charged with attempting to murder a police officer at State House and discharging a loaded firearm at another.
Chimezie, 25, a labourer of Lot 201 9th Street, Industry, East Coast Deme-rara appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magis-trate’s Court 1.
The first charge read that on December 15, 2022 at Carmichael Street, Georgetown, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded police Corporal Telon Perreira with intent to murder him.
It is also alleged that on the said day, Chimezie discharged a loaded firearm with intent to harm police Constable Quacy Cummings.
He was not required to plead to the indictable charges and was remanded to prison. The matter was adjourned to January 26th.
Chimezie had been held incommunicado by the police since December 15 and was only able to see his wife on January 17th. During the period that he was held he had no access to a lawyer.
Since the incident, Chimezie was hospitalised and was only discharged on Monday. He is still recovering from a gunshot wound to his right leg and during his court appearance yesterday he could not walk without support or stand for a long period.
With handcuffs and his feet shackled, Chimezie was escorted to the court just after 1 pm yesterday under heavy security. Upon his arrival, he had to be assisted out of the prison van by two police officers. Parts of his legs were bandaged.
Chimezie was later lifted up the stairs and taken into the courtroom by two police officers.
The matter was called minutes after 2 pm. Among those present was Chimezie’s wife, who took notes during the court proceedings.
Chimezie was injured during the attack he launched outside of State House around 7.30 am on December 15 at the Car-michael Street entrance.
Before he was wounded, Chimezie demanded to see President Irfaan Ali, stabbed Perreira five times and seized a gun from another guard. He then engaged in a shootout with guards.
In presenting the facts of the matter, Police Prose-cutor Vernette Pindar-Whittaker told the court that on the day in question, Chimezie went to State House, Carmichael Street, where he spoke to Perreira and indicated that he was there to see President Ali.
She said Perreira asked Chimezie if he had an appointment and he res-ponded in the positive.
As such, Pindar-Whittaker said Perreira told Chimezie to have a seat while he confirmed the appointment.
The court further heard that a few minutes later, Chimezie became agitated, got up from his seat, approached Perreira and told him he wanted to see the President.
Pindar-Whittaker said Perreira told Chimezie that he had to wait. However, the prosecutor added that Chimezie got up and attempted to walk through the security hut but was prevented by Perreira.
The prosecutor told the court that Chimezie then took out a knife from a shoulder bag he had in his possession and stabbed Perreira. During the process, she said a scuffle ensued between Chimezie and Perreira.
At this point, the court was told that police Constable Roberts pulled her service revolver from her waist causing Chimezie to turn his attention to her, disarming her.
Pindar-Whittaker further noted that a fight ensued between Chimezie and Roberts and Constable Cummings who was at the southeastern gate of State House rushed to render assistance.
She said Chimezie discharged three rounds in Constable Cummings’ direction and ran north along Carmichael Street.
Cummings gave chase behind Chimezie and discharged a round in his direction which struck him in his leg, the court was told.
Chimezie fell to the ground and the service revolver was retrieved. Both he and Perreira were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Perreira has since been discharged and is recovering at home.
The prosecutor further informed the court that Chimezie underwent a psychiatric evaluation and he was deemed fit to stand trial.
No legal representation
Chimezie was unrepresented in court yesterday.
Before he was remanded to prison, the magistrate asked Chimezie what had happened to his foot and he responded “it’s broken”.
Following the incident, Chimezie’s wife had told Stabroek News that she was unable to visit him at the hospital or obtain any information about his health. She said she was only able to see him on Tuesday following his discharge from the hospital.
The woman also said she was unable to obtain legal representation for her husband while he was hospitalised. She said she approached a number of lawyers who declined to provide representation.
“The lawyers that we were told they are good lawyers we went to them and they said unfortunately they can’t accept the case…,” the frustrated woman told this newspaper yesterday.
In a recent interview with Stabroek News, President of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), Mike McCormack had said the restriction on visitation endured by the family of Chimezie is “not acceptable” and that the police should justify under what legal circumstances he was being kept incommunicado.
Noting that a complaint was not filed at the GHRA, McCormack said that the “normal humanitarian considerations” would require that Chimezie’s family be allowed to visit him.
Chimezie’s wife, who spent two days in custody after the incident, had told this newspaper that she met him in April, 2020 and they lived together for a while before they got married just over a year ago.
The court was informed yesterday that Chimezie, a Nigerian, obtained an employment permit whilst here which expires on September 5th, 2023.
The couple has been renting an apartment at Industry. The apartment was searched by the police during the initial stage of the investigation.
The woman explained to this newspaper that on the night before the incident, Chimezie returned earlier than usual from work and told her that he wasn’t feeling well. The following morning, she said they left home together. She was going to work and he was going to the hospital for a checkup.
The said day, the woman who is employed at a city hospital said she had to work out of town so she didn’t hear from Chimezie for the day. Later the same day, she said she returned to work and was summoned by her employer.
The police were present at her workplace and she was taken into custody during which she learnt what had happened.
