Haresh Singh murder investigation: 6 arrested for attempting to pervert course of justice

In light of recent revelation that nine persons were witnesses to an alibi for Gladston Henry who was charged for the murder of Haresh Singh, the Police have arrested six of them for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The individuals, Tiffany Campbell, Alona Bacchus, Patricia Henry, Bibi Shaheman, Clarett Kurtizious and Amanda Wickham were all taken to the CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, by their attorney.

Whilst in custody, the allegation of attempting to pervert the course of justice was put to them. They were all interviewed and recorded in the presence of their attorney and were later released on $100,000 bail each.
However, efforts are being made to question the remaining three persons. This has been communicated to the attorney, as the investigations continue into the matter. On completion of the investigation, the file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.

On Thursday, Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes claimed that the evidence against Gladston is so tenuous that it warrants the charge being dropped. In fact, he revealed that his client has an alibi and claimed that investigating ranks have been ignoring this fact.
Gladston Henry’s family members – 10 in total – including his mother Patricia Henry, have come forward claiming that he was at his family home at Number Three Village, WCB, at the time Singh was murdered. The family members have provided Hughes with statements in this regard.
These statements, according to Hughes, have been handed over to the Police.
According to the lawyer, Singh was killed between 21:30h and 22:00 on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, and his body was found about 100 yards away from his home. He said that during the time the murder took place, Gladston was at home with his family.
He said at the time, the family of Isaiah Henry was gathered at Gladston’s home to offer condolences.
Police had issued a wanted bulletin for Gladston in relation to Singh’s murder. Shortly after, Hughes informed that, in his presence, the man surrendered and was subjected to an interview during which he was asked about his whereabouts on September 9, 2020.
He recalled that he advised his client to exercise his right to remain silent.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Police Force, in response to Hughes’ accusation of insufficient investigation and that his client had alibi, said that during a video interview conducted on June 26 and June 27 with Gladston Henry, he exercised his right to remain silent on each occasion and at no time informed investigators that he had an alibi or that he was elsewhere during the time of the murder.
In a statement on Thursday evening, the GPF said that his attorney did not submit a statement for Gladston Henry or put any alibi on record either in an oral or written statement during the video interviews that were conducted.
“No alibi witnesses ever presented themselves to the investigators for their statement to be taken. Nothing prevented this from being done,” the GPF said.
It noted that on June 28 at 16:00h, pre-prepared statements were delivered to the investigators at CID Headquarters and investigators immediately commenced probing the alibi statements by making earnest efforts to contact these witnesses.
The assistance of senior officers stationed in Region Five were also solicited and they could not locate two of these witnesses.

Alibi witnesses
Additionally, according to the GPF, details of the purported alibi were also furnished to the investigators via an email correspondence from Hughes on behalf of Gladston Henry on June 30.
The email, the GPF said, stated that Gladston Henry (senior), father of the accused whose name is also Gladston Henry, attended the post-mortem examination of Isaiah Henry and video recorded it live as it was being conducted.
According to Police, the email also stated that the accused Gladston Henry along with several witnesses were at the home of his parents viewing the live transmission and also said that he remained at the location for the entire day as confirmed by each by the alleged witnesses.
But Police said that the entire post-mortem examination of Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry was video recorded by the investigators in Gladston Henry’s (senior) presence.
Police said that after receiving the email from Hughes, the video recording was reviewed by the investigators assigned to the case to ascertain the veracity of the alibi proffered on behalf of the accused but the recording showed that Gladston Henry (senior) briefly entered and exited the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home where the post-mortem examination was being conducted. According to Police, he was there for the sole purpose of identifying the body of his son Isaiah Henry as is in keeping with the standard operating procedure.
“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,” the GPF said in its statement.
This, it added, diametrically opposes what is being peddled as the alibi for the accused, 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.

Perverting course of justice
According to Police, they are seeking all nine of the purported alibi witnesses in connection with alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice.
The GPF also stated that these purported alibi witnesses directly contradict other individuals who placed the accused in the company of the other suspects at Haresh Singh’s home and at the scene of the crime at the material time.

Confession
Police said that Anderson, in a confession statement, disclosed that a relative of the Henry cousins went to his home and told him that Singh’s relatives were the ones responsible for his brother’s death and that “they got to die,” as a form of revenge.
Anderson allegedly confessed that he was part of the initial plot to murder Singh as revenge for Isaiah’s murder. He said that the relative of the Henry boys asked him to accompany him on the road where they were joined by Scott and Gittins.
As they were heading towards the road, they armed themselves with pieces of wood.
Anderson stated that they went straight to Haresh Singh’s house and accused his relatives of killing his brother and cousin. They reportedly started to verbally abuse the family and threatened to kill them.
After the confrontation, they left the Singh’s premises and went to the back of Isaiah’s home then to a dam at No 3 Village.
He said there, they crossed a bridge and went to the other side where they saw Haresh Singh approaching on his bike. As such, the four men instructed him to stop and Singh complied but refused to come off the bike when he was told to do so.
An angered Gittins reportedly grabbed Singh from behind and pulled him off the bike after which he bent him over and it was then Henry’s relative, who was carrying a piece of wood, dealt him one blow to the head.
After receiving the blow, Singh was thrown to the ground where he groaned in pain, the man told Police. Still full of anger, Gittins then picked up a piece of wood and repeatedly lashed Singh to his head.
Anderson reportedly apologised for being involved in the heinous crime especially after he found out that Singh’s family was innocent and had nothing to do with the Henry boys’ murders.
On September 6, 2020, the badly mutilated bodies of Isaiah and Joel were found in the backlands of Cotton Tree, WCB – almost two days after they had left their Number Three Village, WCB home to pick coconuts.
Then, days later, on September 9, Singh was found murdered at the Number Three Village backlands. It is suspected that his death was in retaliation for the murders of Isaiah and Joel, since he is related to one of the persons initially held by the Police for the cousins’ murders.
The murders of the Henry cousins and Singh had sparked protests across several villages along the West Coast Berbice corridor, with many persons being robbed and vehicles set alight by rogue persons.