Police seek to contradict Gladston Henry alibi

Nine of the 10 ‘witnesses,’ who placed murder accused Gladston Henry Jnr at his Number 3, West Coast Berbice home at the time 17-year-old Haresh Singh was killed in the Backdam, are now being pursued by the Guyana Police Force for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice.

On Thursday, Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes said on the morning of September 9, 2020 when Singh was killed, Gladston Henry Jnr was at home with his mother Patricia Henry and other relatives watching a live recording of the post mortem that was being conducted on the bodies of Isaiah and Joel Henry at the Le Repentir Funeral Home and Crematorium. Gladston Henry – the father of Isaiah Henry, who was brutally murdered along with his cousin Joel Henry, and murder accused Gladston Henry Jnr – was reportedly the individual recording the PM.

Ten (10) persons, through Hughes, had submitted statements to the police to confirm Gladston Henry’s alibi but in a detailed statement, the Guyana Police Force accused the ‘witnesses’ of providing false information.

“Glaston Henry’s father was never holding a phone in his hand at the time, he only had a mask and a rag in his hands. Further, when he exited the room, he could be seen standing outside and putting on his mask while holding a rag in the other hand. Glaston Henry’s father NEVER re-entered the room. Therefore, it is IMPOSSIBLE for him to have “attended the post mortem examination and video recorded it live as it was being conducted”. This diametrically opposes what is being peddled as the alibi for Glaston Henry that he was home at the time watching a live video recorded by his father, when his father was never present in the room during the conduct of the post mortem examination,” the Guyana Police Force said.

According to the police, the father of the murder accused was seen in a police video recording briefly entering and exiting the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home where the post mortem examination was being conducted for the sole purpose of identifying the body of his son Isaiah Henry.  This, it said, is in keeping with the standard operating procedure.

“It therefore follows, that all nine (9) purported alibi witnesses are currently being sought by the GPF in connection with alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice since if the father of Glaston Henry never recorded any post mortem examination live, then clearly they could not have been home watching a live video together with Glaston Henry,”

Hughes, in an attempt to have murder charges dropped, wrote the Director of Public Prosecution alleging that the investigation into the murder of Haresh Singh was poorly done, resulting in Gladston Henry Jnr being wrongfully charged.

But the police said that the purported alibi witnesses directly contradict other individuals who placed Gladston Henry Jnr. in the company of the other suspects at Haresh Singh’s home and at the scene of the crime at the material time.

Additionally, Hughes, during the Thursday press conference, said based on information provided by relatives of the accused, two police officers, included Police Detective Rodwell Sarabo saw the accused at home on the day in question but the police said such could not be the case.

“… this contention was also another blatant attempt to mislead and distort the facts in this matter since Inspector Sarrabo can be seen present during the post mortem examination, in the recording made by the investigators and also in the background of a ‘Prime News’ video interview that was being conducted with Mr. Hughes immediately after the conclusion of the post mortem examination,” the Force explained.

Gladston Henry Jnr, along with 29-year-old Philip Anderson called ‘Ratman’ of Lot 25 # 3 Village, West Coast Berbice; 27-year-old Joel Gittins called ‘Bolo’ of Jangotown, East Coast Demerara; and 21-year-old Charles Scott called ‘Bucko’ of Lot 29 Jarvis Street Rosignol, Berbice, was charged on June 29, 2021 with the murder of Singh.

The Police Force said it has discharged its mandate in completing the investigation and sending the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice. “The charges were instituted upon the legal advice received from the DPP and therefore, to indicate that this charge is a miscarriage of justice is wholly unmeritorious and can only be viewed as a desperate and deliberate attempt to pervert the course of justice,” it said.