Cops seen with teacher likely to be sacked – senior official

Kescia Branche’s murder

As the Guyana Police Force digs deeper into the brutal murder of high school teacher Kescia Branche, the two cops who were initially implicated in the crime are to be sanctioned and likely to be sent home.

Following internal investigations, departmental charges were filed against the two Police constables who were placed under close arrest during the early stages of the murder probes surrounding the incidents which led to the death of the 22-year-old Richard Ishmael Secondary School teacher.
This is according to a release issued by the Guyana Police Force on Thursday, which detailed that the two ranks were found to be in breach of the Police Discipline Act.
Based on Chapter 17:01 of the said legislation, the implicated ranks are said to be guilty of four offences. These offences are: neglect of duty; consuming intoxicating liquor while on duty; improper entrance to licensed premises; and acting in a manner likely to bring discredit on the reputation of the Force.
However, while speaking to the Guyana Times on Friday, a high-ranking official of the GFP hinted that given that the ranks were at the centre of the murder of a civilian, they are likely to be sacked after the departmental charges are instituted.
This is as the two Police constables were caught on camera leaving the Blue Martini Night Club in the company of the 22-year-old teacher just hours before she was found in a battered and unconscious state on Princes Street, Georgetown.
Moreover, the three were shortly after sighted at a popular food outlet on Mandela Avenue, from which one of the cops claimed the now dead woman had left with a taxi, but instead she went missing.
Branche succumbed to injuries while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital after she was found.
As such, the implicated duo, along with two other ranks of the GPF, were taken into custody, but were later released.
Nevertheless, Acting Crime Chief Paul Williams, earlier this month, told the media that the Force continues to seek legal advice in regard to alleged involved of the two Police officers in the murder of the school teacher.
While positing that the ranks may not have been guilty of murder, Williams contended that they were nevertheless in breach of regulations of the Force.
It was then that he assured that actions would be taken based on the findings of the investigation in relations to the involvement of the two ranks.
Meanwhile, taxi driver 47-year-old Matthew Munroe of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was earlier this month taken into custody and charged for the murder of Branche.
His vehicle was impounded at the Brickdam Police Station after he fled the country just after the injured teacher was picked up off the streets.
A post mortem examination conducted on the body of the woman revealed that Branche died as a result of blunt trauma to the head and haemorrhage.