Man charged with burglary and assault discharged

A Carapan man charged with aggravated burglary and assault has been discharged after the police officer investigating the matter was unable to get a statement from his senior.

Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche, who had been waiting on the file, allowed the investigating officer to explain the status of the case when the matter was called at the Serious Offences Court on Friday, June 12.

The officer explained that he had finished his investigations, but the only statement he needed was from the police officer who conducted the electronic interview with the accused following the incident.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne questioned the investigator further and it was revealed that the officer, PC 134, is currently on leave and the investigator said he had been attempting to contact him but could not.

The interview was conducted in December 2019, soon after the incident occurred.

The chief magistrate expressed displeasure at the situation, noting that complainants are making reports with serious allegations. “It just doesn’t look good,” she commented, noting that the statement was a simple one that would have been very short to take.

Browne commented that to the younger officer it must have been as if he was harassing his senior.

The prosecutor also mused “What’s going on?”

The chief magistrate commented that it was nonsense, and that people were suffering.

However, she indicated that not all police officers were the same and that she can’t paint them with the same brush “at all”.

Nevertheless, she discharged the accused, Michaelson Westfield who was charged with, on December 17, 2019, entering the dwelling house of Kerwyn Jordan of Stubbs, and at the time having with him an offensive weapon, to wit a cutlass. Westfield was also charged that he did, during the same incident, assault Jordan, causing actual bodily harm.