In the quest for justice Patricia Henry spent night in jail

—“It not easy, it not easy, it not easy but God knows,”

By Svetlana Marshall

Approximately 10 months after her 16-year-old son Isaiah Henry and his 18-year-old cousin Joel Henry were tortured and killed at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice, Patricia Henry is at risk of losing another son –this time to the system and her attempts to clear him of a murder he allegedly did not commit, have landed her ‘behind bars’ though temporarily.

“Our family will never be the same, this thing has taken a toll on all of us. My life will never, never, never be th same,” Patricia Henry told Village Voice News on Saturday morning, hours after she was released from the custody of the Guyana Police Force. 

“It not easy, it not easy, it not easy but God knows,” she told this newspaper.  

Together with five other female relatives, Patricia Henry was, on Friday (July 2), charged and placed on $100,000 bail for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice. Her arrest came one day after she made a public plea for the Guyana Police Force to release her 27-year-old son, Gladston Henry Jnr., who along with three other men, was charged with the murder of 17-year-old Haresh Singh. 

Singh, whose relatives were initially implicated in the murder of the Henry cousins, was killed and his motorcycle burnt on September 9, 2020 at the No. 3 Village Backdam, West Coast Berbice but Patricia Henry said her 27-year-old son was nowhere near the scene of the murder.  

It was during a press conference hosted by Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes on Thursday (July 1), that Patricia Henry said it was impossible for her son Gladston Henry Jnr to murder Singh, when on the morning of the murder, he was at their No. 3 Village, West Coast Berbice home viewing a live recording of the post mortem examination which was being done in the capital city – Georgetown. According to her, on that very day, two police officers, Detective Rodwell Sarabo included, visited her, and therefore, could attest to Gladston Henry Jnr being there. But the Guyana Police Force, on Thursday evening, poked holes in the statements provided to police, and accused the women of fabricating the alibi. 

“Gladston 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. Gladston 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 Gladston 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. While maintaining that other witnesses have placed Gladston Henry Jnr at the scene of the crime, the police rejected the contention that Detective Sarabo had visited the home of the Henry’s the morning Singh was killed. 

The statement was followed by the arrest of six of the 10 witnesses but though being grilled for hours at CID Headquarters, the women stood by the alibi provided for Gladston Henry Jnr.

“We spoke the truth, we didn’t lie,” Patricia Henry maintained. 

Her Attorney, Nigel Hughes clarified that while Gladston Henry Snr. was present during the PM, it was his relative, Attorney-at-Law Patrice Henry, who was streaming the PM live on the instructions of Gladston Henry Snr – the father of both Isaiah and Gladston Junior.

But even before she was charged, Patricia Henry said though the battle for justice for her murdered son has been long and hard, she is willing to give it all up to save her surviving son. “If they want me to give up justice for my son Isaiah, just for my son [Gladston to] come out I will do it,” the grieving mother said as she broke down in tears.

She said since the murder of her son on September 6,2020, her family has received several threats but those threatens intensified in recent months after she became critical of the investigation conducted by the Guyana Police Force into the murder of her son and his cousin. 

“Isaiah had 18 wounds,” the grieving mother said while noting that his head was almost completely severed from his body. 

“Which mother bear a child for 9 months and could see that, you don’t have a heart?” 

She had last seen her son Isaiah Henry alive on September 5, 2020, and though his mutilated body was discovered on September 6, 2020, she next saw him on the day of his funeral. 

“I see my son till on the 13th September when he body come in a box to me, no body nah get heart out deh and now you are coming and take the next one away. What is it? What is it that I do to all yuh suh?” she cried during the presser.  “Please my son is not a murderer. Please!” she cried. 

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 case is expected to come up again later this month. 

In the murder of Isaiah and Joel Henry, the Guyana Police Force in January, 2021 charged three suspects – 20-year-old Akash ‘Monkey’ Singh; 34-year-old Anil ‘Rasta’ Sancharra; and 30-year-old Vinod ‘Magga’ Gopaul for the heinous crimes.

But while the family has not ruled out the trio’s involvement in the double murder, they have continuous called on the police to dig a deeper. They have said that true justice will not be served until and unless the mastermind behind the brutal killings of their loved ones is brought to justice.