An attorney affiliated with the People’s National Movement (PNM) has been held amid reports of malicious damage and assault by beating.  The Sunday Guardian understands that just after 1 pm at the couple’s apartment in Cascade, the male attorney and his companion got into a verbal argument that turned physical.

While details remain sketchy, the Sunday Guardian was informed that the assaulted woman made a report to officers at the Belmont Police Station where she and the attorney were being questioned before any charges could be laid.

A Moruga man was shot dead and his wife injured at their home on Friday night. Dead is Clinton Odell, 42, of Church Road, Sixth Company, Indian Walk. Police said around 11.15 pm, Kurt Mc Leod, 42, was at home when he heard two loud explosions. He then heard his neighbour Kimoy McLeod, 30, calling out to him.

When he went across to her house he observed Kimoy with a wound to her stomach and her husband Odell lying in the gallery dead. Odell was bleeding from a wound to his head. Kimoy was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where she was treated and warded. ASP Gafoor, Insp Yearwood, Sgt Mohammed, and other officers of the Moruga and Princes Town CID visited the scene.

Investigations are continuing.

Petit Valley resident and customary newspaper letter writer Dallas Kidman died yesterday morning, two weeks after he was beaten unconscious by a bandit who stole a small quantity of cash and other valuables from him, police said. 

According to police, on November 30 Kidman was approached by a 33-year-old Morvant man who began chatting with the retiree at his Dorchester Walk, Petit Valley, home. During the conversation the man reportedly started to beat the elderly man, then ran into his home and stole small valuables and cash. 

Kidman was taken to West Shore Medical where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit until 9 am yesterday when he died. The suspect, of Cajuca Road, Morvant, appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate yesterday charged with attempted murder and robbery, police said. Police said the charges will be amended following discussions with the office of the Director of Public Prosecution.

In two other unrelated incidents, homicide detectives are investigating the murder of PH driver O’Neil Sampson, 30. Sampson was reportedly driving his white Mitsubishi Lancer along Bagatelle Extension, San Juan, around 9.30 pm on Sunday when he was attacked by two gunmen. Sampson ran off the road, came out and ran a short distance before collapsing. He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Complex, Mt Hope, by North Eastern Division Task Force members, but died undergoing treatment. 

Police said Sampson, a father of one who recently moved into the area, was killed because he was seen transporting a “certain man” in the area regularly. About four hours after Sampson was killed, a murderer took the life of Phillip Francis, 35, of Bulls Lane, Valencia. Police said around 1.30 am yesterday, Francis was leaving his girlfriend’s Gill Street home when a man called out to him. When he turned around the man shot Francis at least nine times. He died on the spot. 

The killing of all three men have taken the murder toll to 384 for the year, 15 more than the corresponding period last year. 

A man who was beaten and held when he went to the Gasparillo Secondary School allegedly armed with a gun appeared in court yesterday charged with gun possession and assault of two schoolboys. Jerome Mahabir, 24, of St Margaret’s Village, a father of one, whose right eye was black and blue, complained he was beaten by a police officer while in a police van at the school. He appeared before San Fernando Fourth Court Magistrate Margaret Alert on charges arising out of the incident last Thursday.

He was not asked to plead to any of the charges. Two charges alleged he unlawfully assaulted Laudelle Fifield and Antonio Simon, both 14, at the school. He was also charged with possession of a .380 revolver. The charges were laid by WPC Serah-Jane Dindial of the Gasparillo Police Station. Asking for bail, Mahabir’s attorney Ainsley Lucky said his client was a self-employed glass installer, married and the father of a six-month-old daughter.

Prosecutor Sgt Parasan Ramsumair objected to bail on the basis that the offences were serious and he allegedly committed those offences while on bail. He said the tracing showed Mahabir had two pending matters for marijuana and house-breaking and also a previous conviction for marijuana. However, Lucky argued that the charges were not similar or as serious as the instant charges. The magistrate said she was concerned that the alleged offences took place on a school compound. 

“Very worrisome,” she said, adding that the bottom line was that the accused allegedly committed those offences while on bail for other criminal offences. She denied him bail and adjourned the matter to December 29. However, the matter was recalled minutes after when Lucky brought to the court’s attention that Mahabir was claiming  he had no pending matters. 

Noting that often the criminal records were not updated, she told Lucky that defence attorneys need to “make noise” to have that matter rectified. She said often the defendants are burdened with having to present court extracts to prove that they had no pending matters. Alert adjourned the matter to Friday for the police to provide an updated record. 

Moments after buying a doubles on Sunday morning, a gunman turned around and shot vendor Roland Forde. Police said Forde, 48, had surgery on his left leg to remove the bullet which left him helpless as the gunman and his cutlass-wielding accomplice stole his money. According to a report, Forde, 48, and his brother, 50-year-old Rudolph Forde, were selling under their umbrella at the Golconda triangle along Cipero Road, San Fernando.

Around 10.45 am, one of the suspects ordered doubles and after collecting and paying for it, walked a short distance away. He was joined by the other man and they both walked up to the vendors and demanded money. When Forde refused, he was shot and beaten on the ground. The bandits then took $5,000, two gold bracelets valued over $10,000 and ran into a vehicle.

Forde was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he remained up until yesterday. Princes Town detective Cpl Callender is investigating. Forde was the second doubles vender to be shot in that area within recent weeks. Last month, Deonarine Kadoo was shot on his right shoulder as he fought a gunman at his stall in Ste Madeleine. The gunmen and three other thieves attacked him and his wife, Beena Kadoo, and stole their day’s earnings of $2,000. Three of the men were held shortly after.

Two cousins charged with trafficking in cocaine have been released on $.4 million bail. Johnson Jackman, 35, an electrician, of Diamond Village, San Fernando, and Robert Billy, 23, an assistant manager, of Vistabella, were arrested last week Wednesday in a AD wagon in Pointe-a-Pierre. They were denied bail on their first appearance in court last Friday for the police to obtain the results of a fingerprint trace to determine if they had any criminal record.

When they re-appeared in the San Fernando court yesterday before Magistrate Natalie Diop court prosecutor Sgt Gordon Maharaj did not object to bail. Attorney Shaun Teekasingh said Jackman, a father of five, had three previous convictions and completed a term of imprisonment in 2003. Billy, he said, was the father of a nine-month-old baby and had no previous criminal matters.

Jackman was placed on $250,000 bail and ordered to report to the police station twice a week. Billy was granted $150,000 bail and ordered to report to the police station once a week. The matter was adjourned to January 5.

The trial of 12 men accused of murdering central businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman resumed yesterday with the jury hearing evidence of how the State’s main witness assisted police in solving the case. Testifying in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court, was homicide detective acting Insp Suzette Martin, who interviewed the witness Keon Gloster on several occasions during a two-month period in 2007 before the 12 men were charged.

Gloster, who was 17 when he gave the statements, is from the same community of upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, where most of the accused men lived. He is also related to several of the men.  Martin explained that when she first met Gloster on May 9, 2007, he agreed to provide information on Naipaul-Coolman’s kidnapping and eventual murder. 

“I will tell you what I know,” Gloster reportedly told police in front of his mother, Marcia, who was asked to sit in on the interview because he was a minor. Martin said when she saw Gloster the next day, he said he had additional information. However, before she could speak to him again, Gloster, who is epileptic, suffered a severe fit and had to be hospitalised. She said Gloster eventually gave her a statement when he was discharged from the Port-of-Spain General Hospital two days later. 

Martin also said she was asked to record two further statements from Gloster on May 28 and then again one month later, after she received instructions from the main investigator Senior Supt Nadhir Khan. Naipaul-Coolman was abducted in front of her Chaguanas, home, on December 19, 2006. A $122,000 was paid but she was not released and her body has never been found. 

Since the trial began before Justice Malcolm Holdip in late March, prosecutors have contended that the former Xtra Foods CEO was held captive at a house in the community in west Trinidad, before she was shot dead and dismembered. Martin is expected to be cross-examined by defence attorneys when the trial resumes this morning.

more info
Who’s in court
The 12 men before the jury and Justice Malcolm Holdip are Allan “Scanny” Martin, twin brothers Shervon and Devon Peters, siblings Keida and Jamille Garcia and their older brother Anthony Dwayne Gloster, brothers Marlon and Earl Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles, Joel Fraser and Lyndon James. A 13th man, Raphael Williams, was charged with the crime but died in prison in 2011 of complications arising from sickle cell anaemia.

Legal team
Their legal team includes Ulric Skerritt, Joseph Pantor, Selwyn Mohammed, Lennox Sankersingh, Ian Brooks, Wayne Sturge, Mario Merritt, Richard Valere, Kwesi Bekoe, Colin Selvon, Vince Charles, Christian Chandler, Delicia Helwig and Alexia Romero. The prosecution team includes Senior Counsel Israel Khan and Gilbert Peterson who are being assisted by senior state prosecutors Joy Balkaran and Kelly Thompson.

The State’s main witness in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder trial was sent for a psychiatric evaluation while he was assisting investigators in the murder investigation. This was revealed yesterday as defence attorneys in the trial of 12 men accused of murdering the Xtra Foods CEO questioned acting Insp Suzette Martin, who was the main police officer to interact with the witness Keon Gloster over two months in 2007. 

Defence attorney Mario Merritt, who is representing three of the accused, referred extensively to the report which was prepared by psychiatrist Prof Gerard Hutchinson on July 22, that year, as he raised issues regarding Gloster’s mental state at the time. Merritt claimed that although police were told that Gloster’s epilepsy medication had side effects which included hallucinations, psychosis and amnesia, they still opted to record statements from him. 

The attorney referred to Hutchinson’s warning about Gloster’s predisposition to becoming highly distressed in enclosed spaces as he stated that he (Gloster) was kept in a small,  unventilated cell in a police station. He also questioned Gloster’s ability to give police the statements during three-hour-long uninterrupted sessions, as Hutchinson had noted he (Gloster) had an unusually short attention span. 

Although Martin said she could not comment on Hutchinson’s findings, she said that Gloster did not display any of the symptoms identified by Merritt during her interactions with him. Naipaul-Coolman, 52, was kidnapped from her home at Lange Park, Chaguanas, on December 19, 2006. A $122,000 ransom was paid by her family, but she was not released and her body was never found. 

State prosecutors in the trial before Justice Malcolm Holdip have contended that she was held captive in a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, which was shared by three of the accused and frequented by the others, who lived close by. Gloster, who also lived in the community and is related to several of the accused men, was 17 at the time. He is expected to testify later in the trial after most of the State’s 74 witnesses, who are mostly police officers, complete their evidence. 

Merritt is expected to continue his cross-examination when the trial resumes next Monday.

WHO’S IN COURT
The 12 men before the jury and Justice Malcolm Holdip are Allan “Scanny” Martin, twin brothers Shervon and Devon Peters, siblings Keida and Jamille Garcia and their older brother Anthony Dwayne Gloster, brothers Marlon and Earl Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles, Joel Fraser and Lyndon James. A 13th man, Raphael Williams, was charged with the crime but died in prison in 2011 of complications arising from sickle cell anaemia.

Legal team
The legal team includes Ulric Skerritt, Joseph Pantor, Selwyn Mohammed, Lennox Sankersingh, Ian Brooks, Wayne Sturge, Mario Merritt, Richard Valere, Kwesi Bekoe, Colin Selvon, Vince Charles, Christian Chandler, Delicia Helwig and Alexia Romero. The prosecution team includes Senior Counsel Israel Khan and Gilbert Peterson who are being assisted by senior state prosecutors Joy Balkaran and Kelly Thompson. 

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a former police officer by an Arima magistrate after he failed to appear in court yesterday. The retired corporal, Indar Hosein, was one of two remaining witnesses in the inquest into the death of Garvin Pereira who was knocked down and killed on February 25, 2005. Rennie Ramcharan is the subject of the inquest.

The matter, which is being heard by Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno in the Arima First Court, began last year and three police witnesses have testified with two more, including Hosein who is the officer that charged Ramcharan having to testify. When the matter was called yesterday Cedeno asked about the whereabouts of Hosein who had missed previous sittings. 

When she was not satisfied with the response she ordered that he be arrested and granted $2,500 bail. She said Hosein was being disrespectful to the court and had a duty to attend court even though he was now retired. She then adjourned the matter to December 22. Pereira was killed after he was allegedly struck by Ramcharan while riding his bicycle along Waterloo Road, Sangre Grande. Ramcharan is charged with failing to render assistance and failing to stop after the accident.

Local prison conditions appeared to be too harsh for a United States citizen who agreed to sign off on his extradition after spending little over a week in remand. Shazam Meighoo, who is wanted for the murder of his 21-year-old wife, Samithia Jones-Meighoo, made the decision during his second hearing in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court on Monday. 

Meighoo, who was arrested by local Interpol agents in Kelly Village, Caroni, on November 27, did so as he claimed his health had deteriorated due to the conditions at the Reman Yard facility at the Golden Grove State Prison,  Arouca. Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayer then signed his committal warrants after being satisfied his attorney Alexia Romero had properly advised him of his options and the consequences of his decision. He is expected to be extradited later this month. 

Jones-Meighoo was shot dead at the couple’s home in Essex County, New Jersey, on June 20, 2012. Besides murder, Meighoo is also accused of possession of a gun, possession of a gun to endanger life and for endangering the life of their two-year-old child, who was at home at the time of the incident.

In a press release issued yesterday, the Office of the Attorney General said Meighoo’s case was part of an the ongoing partnership with their international counterparts in the fight against crime. “The Attorney General is committed to working with law enforcement agencies in the Caribbean and other international bodies to confront and fight the scourge of crime,” the release said as it listed several recent extraditions, which were facilitated through the Central Authority. 

The US was represented by Senior Counsel Pamela Elder, Central Authority head Netram Kowlessar and Nisha Persad.  
 

A 16-year-old girl is among three people arrested for Sunday’s shooting of doubles vendor Ronald Forde in San Fernando. Police said the trio, also wanted for other robberies in the area, were held with a Smith and Wesson revolver loaded with eight rounds of ammunition. They were expected to be put on ID parades yesterday. 

Around 10.30 pm on Wednesday, investigators got information that the three were  in a Mazda car in Golconda and police from the St Madeleine station under Cpl Callender, PC James and PC Beharry caught up with them near the Golconda Triangle, where Forde was shot. The three suspects live at Errol Avenue, Golconda and police said the men are 24 and 25. 

Around 10.45 am om Sunday, Forde, 48, and his brother Rudolph, 50, were selling doubles on the roadside when one of the suspects bought a doubles and walked away. He and another man returned with a gun and cutlass and demanded money. When Forde refused, he was shot and beaten. The bandits then took $5,000, two gold bracelets valued over $10,000 and ran into a vehicle.

Forde was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital, where he remained up to late yesterday. 

A 45-year-old father of three who was engaged to be married next month was yesterday gunned down near his La Brea home. Police said Derrick St John, a pipe-fitter, was asleep at his Leon Street home when he received a phone call around 3.30 am and left home. After reaching the corner of nearby Nelson Street, he was accosted by a gunman who shot him five times. Residents who heard the explosions ran out and saw him bleeding in the road, but saw no one else.

Seven-year-old Delisha St John ran to her father’s lifeless body slumped in the road. Delisha and her siblings Derrick, eight, and Deshonda, four, were to attend the wedding next month of St John and her mother Lisa Trim. When Insp Pariman, Sgt Taitt, Cpl Gordon and other South Western Division police arrived at the scene, St John was already dead. Police took St John’s cell phone in hopes of finding a motive for his murder. They have ruled out robbery after finding $3,000 in his pocket.

Because he was shot in the back of the head, they suspect it might have been a hit on his life. 

Yesterday, Trim’s mother, Venetta Trim, said her son, who spent his childhood in the US, used to sell drugs but had changed his life and become a family man. She said he was quiet, had no enemies and never got into a quarrel. She recalled: “About 3.45 am, somebody came calling me and told me ‘look Derrick lying in the road, like he dead.’ When I ran out there and saw him, I went back and woke up his wife and my son.”

“Before, he was sleeping with his wife and children and it was like after he got a phone call, he left. Right under the streetlight where they shot him, it was there we saw him,” Venetta said. She said the murder had traumatised his children, and that Deshonda kept asking for her father, while his only son and namesake Derrick had barely spoken since the incident.

Speaking on T&T’s crime woes, she said: “When you’re reading it or you hear people talking about it, you wouldn’t think anything like that could happen to you, but it is when it reaches home then you know. Pray for it not to reach home to you because it’s innocent people they’re killing.”

Three men appeared in court, yesterday, charged with the murder of a Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) contractor. Ian Stanley, Quincy Felix and Sherman Hinds, all of Richplain, Diego Martin, appeared before Magistrate Gail Gonzales in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court charged with the November 6 shooting death of 41-year-old Danladi Balewa. 

All three were charged with being in possession of firearms and ammunition and for shooting Balewa’s friend Derrick Bellingy with intent to kill him. The two victims were liming near Balewa’s home at Covigne Road, Diego Martin, when they were attacked by a group of gunmen around 6.45 pm. Balewa died at the scene. Bellingy survived after undergoing emergency surgery at hospital. 

After Gonzales read the charges, the men’s lawyer, Criston J Williams, told the court he was concerned over media coverage of the case, as Bellingy did a series of interviews with Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne while recovering from his injuries. Gonzales agreed that the interviews could prejudice the eventual trial of the accused and ordered that Alleyne refrain from discussing the case further.

Williams also said his clients feared for their safety in prison and asked for them to be sent to the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca. Police prosecutor Sgt Azard Ali told Williams his request could not be facilitated by police or the court, as Williams had not revealed the details of his clients’ concerns.

Instead, Ali suggested, Williams should make the request to the Prison Commissioner. The three men, who are also being represented by attorney Wayne Sturge, will reappear in court next Thursday. 

An employee of a gambling firm was yesterday granted $100,000 bail for allegedly stealing more than $125,000 from the business and then making a false report that he had been robbed. Pretum Chablal, of Arima, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington in the San Fernando Magistrates Court. The two charges were read to him, but he was not asked to enter a plea.

The first charge alleged that between October 23 and December 5, at Coffee Street, San Fernando, he being an employee of Goodwood Services Ltd stole $125,750 from the business. The second charge alleged that on December 5 he wasted the police’s time by making a false report that he was robbed of $91,043. The charges were laid by PC Harripersad of the San Fernando Police Station.

Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan confirmed that the accused had no pending matters or previous convictions. Chablal’s attorney Stacy McSween said her client lived at Temple Street, Arima. The bail was set at $100,000 to cover both charges and the matter adjourned to January 9.

The failure of the police to provide an updated criminal background trace on the man allegedly held with a gun at Gasparillo Secondary School resulted in his remaining behind bars. Jerome Mahabir, 24, was remanded in custody for a second time despite an objection by his attorney Ainsley Lucky, who submitted that it was unfair to his client.

Mahabir first appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates Court before Magistrate Margaret Alert on three charges—common assault against two 14-year-old schoolboys and possession of a .380 revolver. The incident took place on December 4. Mahabir was arrested at the school. The police provided a tracing which showed he had two pending matters and one conviction.

But Mahabir, a glass installer, of St Margaret’s Village, Claxton Bay, denied having pending matters. The magistrate remanded him in custody so the police could provide an updated trace. When he reappeared yesterday, however, prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said the charging officer, WPC Sarah-Jane Dindial, was unable to attend court because she was sick. “That is unfortunate, but it is also very unfortunate for my client,” said Lucky, who asked the court to accept Mahabir’s word that he had no pending matters.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington asked: “Is this the school matter? “And you expect me to grant bail just so, without tracing?” Lucky asked for his objection to be recorded, but the magistrate reminded him that a person could be remanded into custody for 28 days for tracing.

Triple murder accused Azmon Alexander was sent back to the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital yesterday when he re-appeared before Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno. Alexander, 29, was sent for an evaluation and report at his first court appearance on December 1 after he said he was hearing voices and seeing hallucinations,

 When he reappeared yesterday officials at the hospital requested a further five days to complete their report. Alexander, who had his hair cut and shaved, through his attorney Fareed Ali, complained that police officers pointed guns at him and threatened him. Cedeno told Ali he should make a complaint to the Justice of the Peace if his client was of the view he was threatened. She then adjourned the matter to December 22. 

Alexander and his teenaged cousin are charged with kidnapping and murdering members of a Brasso Seco family and face a combined total of 64 charges. 

Two weeks have passed and no one has come forward to claim the partially burnt body of a man who was found in a drain at Ravine Sable, Longdenville. And as a result, Central Division police said they could move no further with their investigation. Police investigators said the case appeared to be a murder as the killer tried to conceal any clues by setting the man’s body alight.  

Since the body was discovered on November 28, it remains at the Forensic Science Centre. An autopsy cannot be done until the body is identified. The cause of death remains unknown. Tractor operator Rennie Ramcharran, 27, of Ricky Trace, was walking home along Fletcher Road when he saw the body laying in a drain and contacted the police.

Police said the man’s face was damaged but he appeared to be in his early 20s, had a low haircut and wore no clothes on his upper body. He was wearing a red pair of denim pants and sneakers, and had a gold chain around his neck. A search of police missing people database did not match the man’s description. 

Soca superstar Kees Dieffenthaller escaped harm when he and two friends were robbed on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, after a performance at Aria Lounge early Saturday. According to details of a police report, which were confirmed by a close family member, Dieffenthaller had just left the lounge at around 4 am when he, an employee of a radio station and the girlfriend of the latter, a Barbados national, were accosted by two men armed with guns.

Dieffenthaller and company were walking on Ariapita Avenue, when there was an exchange of words following which the armed men said it was a hold up. His two friends were made to lie on the ground but the Soca star was allowed to stoop, when the gunmen learned of his identity. Cash, jewelry, identification cards and cellphones were taken from his two friends, while Dieffenthaller’s valuables were returned to him. Only cash was taken from the 2011 International Groovy Soca Monarch champion.

After the incident, they made a report at the Woodbrook Police Station. Attempts to contact Dieffenthaller yesterday proved futile. However, following the incident Dieffenthaller made a public statement, via Kes The Band’s Facebook page, saying: 
“I was reminded of the gift of life this weekend...of how this existence is just a series of moments and how essential it is to be present in each and every one. “The barrel of a new gun tends to put things into perspective. The times we live in are real. We are called to be aware. Aware of our surroundings yes...but aware of our hearts as well.”

“It happened quickly and no one was hurt or injured but time sure did slow down. I give thanks that I can write this and live to love in another moment. “I forgive them. They are the products of the bigger problems we as a nation face today. “I hope through my experience and those of countless others people will continue to open their eyes in Trinidad and Tobago. 

“See the whole picture. It is not a time to be crippled by fear but a time to stand for the true spirit that is TnT. I have a purpose and will continue to live that out. Thank you for the concern and support my friends. Blessed Love.” The robbery continues to raise concerns on the level of safety at the entertainment hub.

Hearings of the trial of 12 men accused of murdering former Xtra Foods chief executive officer Vindra Naipaul-Coolman have been adjourned to next year. Although hearings in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court were due to take place up until the start of the Judiciary’s annual vacation on Thursday, presiding Judge Malcom Holdip yesterday informed attorneys that the schedule would have to be abandoned to accommodate a juror who has university examinations this week. 

Since the trial began in late March, prosecutors have called 50 of the 74 witnesses that are expected to testify in the trial. The latest witness to give evidence was Insp Suzette Martin, the police officer who mainly interacted with the State’s main witness Keon Gloster during a two-month period in 2007, in which he gave police a series of statements implicating the accused men. He is yet to testify and is expected to do so closer to the end of the trial. 

Gloster, who was 17 at the time, is related to several of the accused, who are all from Upper La Puerta Avenue, Diego Martin. Prosecutors are contending that Naipaul-Coolman was held captive in a house in the community for one week after she was kidnapped from her Chaguanas home on December 19, 2006, before she was eventually killed an her body disposed of. 

During her testimony on Monday, Martin denied allegations that Gloster was beaten by police before he decided to co-operate with them. “First and foremost homicide officers don’t beat people,” Martin said firmly as she responded to an allegations that Gloster was repeatedly kicked in the stomach by the police. 

Besides the beating allegation, Martin was also called upon to answer allegations that Gloster was denied meals and his epilepsy medication during his detention in police custody. Defence attorneys will complete their cross-examination of Martin when the trial resumes on January 6.

Homicide detectives have made no headway into the murder of a mentally ill man who was shot dead in Cunupia on Monday. According to a report, a passerby walking through Ramlal Street, Warrenville, found the body of 36-year-old Sean Marlon Christom on the roadside. Police said Christom, of Couva, was found lying faced down with a gunshot wound to the head. 

Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said he was shot once through the back of his neck with the bullet exiting through his head.