Police officers who fail to attend court should be disciplined, acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams said yesterday as he commented on yet another matter which was thrown out before it began.
In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Williams said it was a straight case of his men not being disciplined. He added that it was mandatory for officers to attend court and noted while there had been disciplinary action taken against officers in the past, the onus was on each officer to do what was right.
Yesterday, the non-appearance of a police officer, who charged a businessman with assaulting his colleague, was reason enough for a sitting magistrate to dismiss a matter even before it began.
Port-of-Spain Magistrate Carl Quamina dismissed five charges against businessman Gerard Aboud who was accused of assaulting WPC Vanessa Melville, resisting arrest, obscene language, obstructing a police officer in the execution of their duty and throwing missiles. Aboud, who was represented by Fareed Ali, had the matter thrown out after his lawyer submitted that the officer who filed the charges, Sgt Marcellin of the City Police, was present on the previous adjournment and was fully aware of the trial date.
Ali also informed the court that it was the second time that the case was set for trial and it was no fault of the defence that the case was unable to proceed. The court prosecutor asked the magistrate for time to get the officer, but after the matter was placed on hold for an hour Quamina dismissed the matter.
In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, secretary of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Insp Micheal Seales said he was concerned about the trend of officers failing to appear in court leading to the matters being dismissed.
He said this could lead to a break down in law and order if it continued and disciplinary action should be taken against wayward officers. Officers accused of such conduct, he said, could face three charges from failing to attend court resulting in a matter being dismissed. Punishment for the offences range from being fined a day’s pay to reduction in rank or dismissal.
Seales said the association met with the acting Commissioner of Police last year on the matter and agreed that to alleviate the problem officers would be rostered to work on days they had court matters. Another suggestion was that prosecutors try to schedule adjournments on days that the officers were working and unable to attend.
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On Wednesday, Timmie Rampersad was freed by senior Arima Magistrate Indrani Cedeno who ruled that Rampersad should walk free as witness statements collected by police were not filed and served on the defence by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The DPP has since initiated the process of advising the police to re-arrest Rampersad. Rampersad was before the court for causing the deaths of Abel Wilson, 61, and his employee Sherry Britto, 47, at the Olton Road Junction and the Priority Bus Route (PBR) in Arima, on May 5, 2012. Wilson and Britto were heading south along Olton Road, just after 4 pm, when on reaching the PBR, a marked police vehicle slammed into them.