Colwyn Harding saga…Cops charged in Colwyn Harding assault case

By Sunita Samaroo
Constable Devin Singh was yesterday charged along with his colleague Roselle Tilbury-Douglas at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for the  alleged baton assault on Colwyn Harding.

Accused: Police Constable Devin Singh hides his face before his first arraignment.

The charge which was read to the duo by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, states that at Timerhi, East Bank Demerara between November 1 and November 30, last year, they assaulted Harding so as to cause him actual bodily harm. Persaud was accused too of assaulting Harding at Timehri during that period of time.
Both Constables Singh and Tilbury pleaded not guilty and submitted bail applications through their lawyers, Glenn Hanoman and Leslie Sobers respectively.
The case is being prosecuted by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Prosecutor, Corporal Bharat Mangru, who did not reveal the details of the crime. The Chief Magistrate ordered that statements be filed for the three charges.
The Prosecutor holding an extremely thick case file indicated that he would not be able to disclose at this point how many witnesses will be called, since he does not believe all those who provided statements will be called to offer testimonies.
Hanoman made a request, however, for the statements to be given to them.

COOPERATING FULLY
In his address to the court, Hanoman disclosed that his client (Singh) has not been asked to post station bail but had rather been released on his own recognizance (self-bail).
The lawyer said his client has been cooperating fully with the police, including reporting to a police station on more than 20 occasions thus far, and further, had reported to court on his own volition after having just received a call notifying him of his court hearing.
Hanoman beseeched the court to note that the offence for which his client has been charged clearly did not pertain to the insertion of any baton into the victim’s rectum. He contended that the investigations conducted have garnered no proof of any such claims.
Continuing, he stated that his client who resides at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara has been serving the Guyana Police Force as a constable for the past twelve years. He asked the court to consider offering Singh reasonable bail.
Meanwhile, Tilbury-Douglas’s lawyer, Leslie Sobers, said his 26-year-old client, who lives in Timehri, is married and a mother of one. He revealed that she had been serving the force for the past four years.
Sobers in his bail application claimed that the accused has always made herself available to the police, cooperated fully with investigators and remained on active duty until she was told yesterday afternoon that she needed to go to court to answer to the charge.
He noted that she had spent no extensive period of time under close arrest.
“She has never been in a predicament such as this,” he said.  Sobers vouched for Tilbury’s willingness to face trial and prove her innocence.
“My client will appear and show that she in no way assaulted the virtual complainant and she stands prepared to expose this deceit and the spuriousness of this allegation,” said Sobers.
The lawyer stated that she was “serving under 1601, and cannot leave this country.” He added that she can be contacted at anytime.
Asking for self-bail, the lawyer turned to his client who was standing beside her colleague dressed in her working skirt and shoes.
“I apologise for my client being dressed inappropriately. She was on duty and given the tee-shirt she now wears.”
He contended that she was not a flight risk and has been available to the police and will be available to the courts.
The lawyers’ applications were met with no objections from the Prosecution thus bail was allowed.
They were placed on $100,000 for each offence by the Chief Magistrate and the case was transferred to Providence Magistrates’ Court.
Singh, who is the only one of the two in possession of a passport, was ordered to lodge the document with the courts as a condition for bail. Meanwhile, Tilbury-Douglas was ordered to report to a police sergeant every Friday starting from June 13. The case will be called again today before Magistrate Leron Daly.

PUNISHMENT
When contacted, a senior police official stated that from the first day of the arraignment, the serving ranks will be interdicted from duty. He indicated that a file will be sent to the staff officer who will prepare and send the necessary interdiction papers to the Commissioner of Police for his signature.
The official clarified that they will be interdicted pending the outcome of the court case.
“If found guilty, they will face dismissal but if exonerated, the file will be sent back to the DPP for advice.”
He made it clear that neither Singh nor Tilbury-Douglas will have police powers and will be receiving half their regular salary during the period of interdiction.
The Police also issued a statement claiming that “departmental charges will also be made against some other ranks involved in the matter.”
ROOT CAUSE
Harding, the victim, had earlier this year gone public claiming that members of the police force had beaten him and inserted a condom-covered baton in his rectum. The alleged act, he had said, had ruptured his intestine.
He was arrested in November last year at Timehri during a theft investigation and taken to the police station in that district where the alleged sodomy had occurred.
Following the publication of Harding’s plight – at the time he was hospitalized in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where a hernia operation had been performed on him – the matter was immediately handed over to the Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
After making recommendations, the file was sent to the Head of the Police Complaints Authority Cecil Kennard and later the DPP.
The DPP had however sent it back to the police stating that there was need for additional investigations. There were several other movements of the file back and forth.