Police rank offers Gy100,000 to latest torture victim

After taking it upon himself to pour methylated spirits on the hands of a 19-year-old boy and then setting them alight at the Sparendaam Police Station, the aberrant police officer got the father of the teen to sign a document for Gy$100,000, which was handed over to him.

This publication was informed that the intention of the police officer was to induce the relatives of the young man to consider it as a form of compensation, thus persuading them from pursuing the matter in court.

However, attorney-at-law Dexter Todd told the media, on Tuesday, that while money was handed over to the youth’s father, which he had to sign for, he was advised by his clients that the sum was merely to assist them with transportation arrangements.

Todd made it clear that the money was never intended to be used as a form of settlement based on the briefing by his client.

Moreover, the attorney asserted that the transportation assistance will not be used to deter his client from giving statements against the police rank fingered in the incident or those who had been witnesses.

Speaking at the Burns Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital on Tuesday morning, the lawyer said that as a former policeman himself, he is always saddened whenever he encounters cases of police excesses and brutality since he knows that no police officer who enjoys the job or understands their role as a law enforcer will ever act in such a manner.

He said that since the police themselves initiated the investigation through the Police Office of Professional Responsibility, they will be allowed to do their job even as the victim and his relatives expect a speedy investigation and justice.

Speaking with the youth who was burnt on his hands by the police, 19-year-old Junior Torrington of Eastville Housing Scheme, Annandale, East Coast Demerara, told this newspaper, at the Georgetown Hospital, that he was locked up for three days at the Sparendaam Police Station.

Asked how he ended up there, the teen related that he has a few puppies and his grandmother with whom he lives instructed him to get them out of the yard since they were making her uncomfortable.

He said that he then went to Plaisance to give them to a friend and while he was in that community he was arrested by the police. The young man, however, could not get to the point of explaining what led to his arrest since the nurses at the Burns Care Unit interrupted his interaction with the media at that point.

This latest incident comes even as the police are working with several communities to forge a positive relationship with the youths. It comes up too just as two constables have been charged with assaulting Colwyn Harding late last year.

Although the Sparendaam Police Station matter is engaging the attention of the Police Office for Professional Responsibility at present, this publication has been informed that none of the ranks reportedly involved has been placed under close arrest at this point.