Chief Magistrate decries poor police investigations in gun cases

Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty has raised concerns over what she described as a series of poorly investigated gun-related matters brought before her over the past week.
While presiding over a case on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates Courts, the Magistrate made a statement after the prosecution failed to provide details on a gun-related incident.
The Magistrate noted bluntly that over the past week, she has presided over several cases involving firearm offences in which the police investigations were carelessly done. She noted that this recurring issue is disturbing and reflects a worrying trend in how such serious matters are being handled.
The Acting Chief Magistrate emphasised that when investigations are carelessly done and brought before the court by the police, and the Magistrate grants bail, it is the Magistrate who is blamed.

Gun cases
On Wednesday, Magistrate McGusty granted $300,000 bail to 34-year-old Keith Collymore, who was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Collymore, according to police, was found with an illegal firearm at a club in Albouystown.
However, when it was the prosecution’s turn to speak, he was unable to provide any details on whether the firearm was found on the man’s person. He said, based on his knowledge, there was a search conducted at the club, and the man was arrested.
When probed for further details on how the firearm was found and how Collymore was linked to its discovery, the prosecutor was unable to provide such details. As a result, the Magistrate granted the defendant bail.
A day before this proceeding, a 52-year-old businessman, who was recently arrested after police allegedly found him with an unlicensed firearm, was released on $200,000 bail by Magistrate McGusty.
This resulted from the prosecution’s no objection to bail and the fact that there were few to no details provided on how the man was found with the firearm.
Rodney Raghubansee, a resident of Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, was arrested Saturday night on Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, Georgetown, following reports of a disorderly individual. He was later charged with being in possession of a Taurus .38 revolver without being the holder of a firearm licence.
According to police reports, the weapon was reportedly discovered in the waist of his pants after police stopped and searched him.
During the court hearing, Raghubansee’s attorney asked that he be released on bail, stating that he was not aware of the weapon and denied having any knowledge of it.
According to the attorney, Raghubansee had been at a bar on Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, when he got into a heated exchange with a group of men who later physically assaulted him.
She told the court that her client had been drinking at the time, and as he tried to leave the venue, the men allegedly hurled threats, warning, “Watch and see what’s going to happen to you. You’re not going to get far.”
Shortly after the incident, Raghubansee reportedly left the bar and was on his way home when he was stopped by police officers.
The prosecution raised no objections to bail, only noting that the firearm had been recovered and lodged as part of the ongoing investigation. As a result, the Magistrate granted bail in the amount of $200,000.
There was also another case this week, where a taxi driver was granted $750,000 bail on multiple wounding charges stemming from a club incident that involved a gun.

The accused, Uquawn Williams of South Ruimveldt-Lamaha Park, Georgetown, was charged with maiming, disfiguring, disabling, or causing grievous bodily harm to Joshua Persaud, Asher Waddell, and Sherwin Vincent.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred on July 19, at Robb Street, Bourda, Georgetown.
Williams was also charged with possession of an illegal firearm and 10 live 9 mm rounds of ammunition without a licence.
Represented by attorneys Darren Wade and Meshonn Persaud, Williams pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His legal team told the court that Williams had a previous altercation with the same individuals and that both parties were taken to the police station on an earlier occasion, where they agreed to resolve the matter.
However, on the date of the current incident, which occurred at the Red Dragon Bar, his attorneys allege that Williams was attacked, beaten, and robbed by the same individuals. They said he was thrown at the corner of Rob Street and left for dead. He was later found in an unconscious state by police, who transported him to the hospital for treatment. After regaining consciousness, he was taken into custody.
The defence argued that Williams had no firearm and denied ever discharging one.
Despite these claims, the prosecution strongly objected to bail, citing public safety concerns and the seriousness of the charges.
The prosecutor argued that Williams discharged a firearm in a crowded area, endangering lives, but again was unable to provide details on whether Williams had a gun.
In fact, they stated that the weapon was not recovered from Williams but was given to the police by the attackers.  This was even after they stated that they had video evidence of Williams with the alleged gun.
While the defence claimed the footage only showed Williams entering the venue after being searched, the video presented in court revealed Williams outside the premises before his entry.
Nonetheless, the Magistrate noted that the footage did not clearly indicate Williams was in possession of a firearm.
The court also acknowledged that the weapon was never found on the accused, nor was there conclusive evidence linking him directly to it.
Taking this into consideration, the Magistrate granted Williams bail of $150,000 for each of the offences, a total of $750,000.
Another popular case this week, where the public expressed disappointment that Magistrate McGusty granted bail, was the case of Bradley Sampson, a 36-year-old Georgetown businessman popularly known as “Doggie”. He was granted bail totalling $270,000 for a string of charges linked to a chaotic confrontation at the Square of the Revolution.
The incident allegedly stemmed from a dispute over payments to individuals mobilised to participate in a political march hosted by We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), a movement spearheaded by United States (US)-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed.
Sampson turned himself in to the police on Thursday in the company of his attorney, Jevon Cox, after a wanted bulletin had been issued for him in relation to the confrontation.
The alleged victim, identified as Genista Fordyce, claimed that she was assaulted by Sampson with a firearm during a heated argument over underpayment for mobilisation work.
That incident was partially captured on video and circulated widely on social media, showing an aggressive exchange between Sampson and the woman in the vicinity of Cuffy Square.
In court, Sampson was slapped with six charges in total: possession of a firearm without a licence, for which bail was set at $150,000; unlawful carrying of a firearm in a public place, which attracted a bail sum of $50,000; unlawful wounding of Genista Fordyce, for which the Magistrate imposed bail in the amount of $30,000; threatening behaviour, for which bail was fixed at $20,000; disorderly behaviour, for which the Magistrate set bail at $10,000; and obscene language, for which he was granted $10,000 bail.
During the bail application, attorney Cox argued that no firearm was recovered at the scene of the incident or during subsequent police operations. He told the court that for any object to be legally classified as a firearm, ballistic testing must be conducted by a specialist.
In Sampson’s case, no such testing allegedly had been done, and no expert was presented to testify whether the object seen in a circulated video was indeed a firearm. According to the lawyer, law enforcement was relying entirely on social media videos and photographs, which, he argued, are insufficient to confirm the presence of a weapon under the law.
Sampson also confirmed that his home had been searched by police and that he was tested for gunshot residue, tests that yielded no evidence implicating him.
Cox further noted that the virtual complainant, Genista Fordyce, had not attended court and that no medical certificate had been produced to support the unlawful wounding charge.
Cox also claimed that before the confrontation escalated, Fordyce had unlawfully entered Sampson’s vehicle and removed his car keys. He pointed out that in the video, Sampson could be heard demanding that his keys be returned. The attorney maintained that whatever actions his client took afterward were in self-defence and not driven by criminal intent.

Credibility
Despite the defence’s arguments, the prosecution objected to bail, contending that Fordyce was afraid for her life and had initially hesitated to make a formal complaint because of alleged connections between Sampson and members of the police force.
The prosecutor also told the court that the woman had gone to a hospital and was examined by a doctor but admitted that no medical document had been submitted to support the claim that she was wounded.
Magistrate McGusty, after listening to both sides, questioned the credibility of the firearm allegation. She noted that no weapon was ever recovered, no ballistics tests were conducted, and no specialist was present to confirm the nature of the item shown in the video.
She further highlighted the absence of medical proof in the unlawful wounding charge and questioned the reliance on videos and photographs alone, without proper verification.
After weighing the submissions of both the prosecution and the defence, the Magistrate granted bail totalling $270,000.