Attorney denies “cussing out” Policeman

…pleads not guilty to 5 charges

Attorney Ryan Crawford on Friday denied five charges slapped on him after he reportedly verbally abused a Policeman. The attorney appeared at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court on Friday accompanied by a battery of lawyers.
The charges stated that on September 13, 2018, at the Yorkshire Public Road, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, he failed to produce his driver’s licence; he also drove an unfit motor vehicle; he used obscene language; he behaved in a riotous manner. A charge of prohibition of tinted glass was also slapped on him.
The 48-year-old attorney denied all the charges when they were read to him by Magistrate Peter Hugh. He was released on his own recognisance.
His attorneys are Sanjeev Datadin, Teni Housty, Pauline Chase, Aneesa Chow, Ganesh Hira, Ramesh Rajkumar, Chandra Sohan, Horatio Edmonson, Lloyd Thomas, Eon Smith and Joel Edmond. The lawyer is expected to make his next court appearance on October 10 at the Mahaicony Magistrate’s Court.
Almost two weeks ago, a video of the lawyer went viral on social media showing that he was demanding that the Cop gave him an explanation for stopping his vehicle. However, during the incident, the lawyer was heard shouting expletives at the Cop while refusing to show his comply with the requests of the Cop. In the almost four-minute-long video, the lawyer repeatedly used profanities at the officer as he questioned the rank’s legal grounds for stopping him.
Following the posting of the video, Crawford had taken to his Facebook page to make fun of the incident even going as far as to market him. The Guyana Bar Association however in a statement to the press condemned Crawford’s actions but nevertheless highlighted the right of citizens against arbitrary stops.
It was only after this statement that the lawyer issued a public apology but added that he was not sorry for questioning arbitrary authority.
His apology stated “I am not trying to justify my behaviour. My language was not proper as an officer of the court nor as a member of the Bar of Guyana. I apologise for my language, but I’m not sorry for questioning arbitrary authority”.
In his apology, Crawford also stated that it was his frustration that was the cause of his expletive rant noting, that he was only attempting to get his point across which is that he was illegally stopped. When he was questioned at the Whim Police Station earlier this week, it was unearthed that several of his documents were only recently renewed.