GUILTY! Health Ministry arsonists to be sentenced on June 27

Colin Jones and his co-accused, Clayton Westford, were both found guilty on Monday of deliberately setting the Health Ministry building on fire four years ago. The men will know the extent of their punishment on June 27.
Between July 16 and 17, 2009 at Brickdam, the duo unlawfully and maliciously set fire to the Health Ministry, a conflagration that lit up the night skies in the wee hours and razed the building, along with  an annex.
Magistrate Judy Latchman, on June 11 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, found that a prima facie case was made out against Jones and Westford after a no-case submission was made by Attorney Michael Somersaul, who is representing Westford. Jones, who had escaped from custody and was later recaptured, was unrepresented.
On Monday, final arguments were made by the prosecution and the defence. Prosecutor Vishnu Hunt submitted that the state has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, pointing to the oral confession of Jones and the written confession of Westford. The prosecution also cited case law that demonstrated persons could be convicted based solely on an oral or written confession, and asked that the court find both defendants guilty.
Magistrate Latchman ruled that both men were guilty of the act, which local law enforcement authorities labelled ‘domestic terrorism’.
The fire, believed to have been sparked by ‘channa bombs’, devoured decades-old records, vehicles, and several key divisions in a major blow to the health sector, raging for more than three hours amid a downpour.
The Guyana Fire Service, in a valiant effort, managed to save the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and other adjacent buildings. The Health Ministry building had housed the offices of the two health ministers, permanent secretary, chief medical officer and administrative staff; the registry; and the disease control, adolescent health, and tobacco control units; among others.
Jones, in December 2011, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and fined for cultivating cannabis, illegal gun possession, and illegal ammunition possession. He was also arraigned on a number of other charges, including discharging a loaded firearm, attempted murder, and murder. The other five accused were charged jointly in the matter of setting fire to the Supreme Court, while some face the same charges with Jones.
Previously, a case of attempted murder reportedly committed at the Brickdam Police Station, during an alleged plot to cause mayhem at the Central Police Station, was thrown over to the High Court. The court had found that a prima facie case had been made out against the men, causing them to stand trial at the next appropriate sitting of the Supreme Court.