Mentally unstable man wreaks havoc

– in Norton Street

By Ashraf Dabie

A series of disastrous outcomes were averted on Sunday morning at about 10:30hrs as Akeem Hope of Norton Street, Wortmanville Georgetown — a mentally unstable man in his twenties — attempted to seek retribution for being denied money requested from family members.

Police Officers arrive at the scene to detain the mentally unstable Hope

He first attempted to stab a neighbour, reportedly approaching the man and accusing him of failing to repay a loan. Despite the innocent neighbour’s continuous efforts to assure the deranged youth that he was mistaken, Hope pulled out a weapon and attempted to stab the man.
Enraged by efforts that intercepted his attack on his neighbour, he then rushed into his home and began operating in a disorderly manner while threateningly expressing his intentions to kill. He proceeded to sack the rented property by breaking windows and throwing items across the room; and as he eventually got his hands on the lit kerosene stove which his mother was using, he flung it onto flammable items on the ground.
As a result, a small fire erupted in the home while his mother and three siblings were inside, but Fire attendants quickly responded to the reports, and by the time of their arrival, neighbours had already managed to extinguish the blaze before things escalated.
However, the community members then rushed this mentally unstable man to chastise him for his violent behaviour. They locked Hope away in the house, and put his sister to guard him sister until Police Officers arrived on the scene.
Even though no casualties stemmed from the aggressive outbursts of this mentally unsound individual, Hope was taken into custody. In fact, prior to this incident, he was imprisoned for similar criminal acts.
This newspaper understands that the young man had led a normal childhood, but was condemned to the state of mental illness following a fight in high school, during which he sustained injures to his head. As such, Hope has since been dependent on the supervision and care of his family.
This report comes one month after another mentally-ill individual had set his home afire.
Guyana Times recently published that sixty-four-year-old Oslyn Marcus, known as ‘Oyo’, also reportedly of unsound mind, had set alight his Lot 107 Meten-Meer-Zorg house on Saturday, July 22, and had steadfastly refused entreaties to vacate the burning building. Oyo was taken into police custody, but was subsequently released hours after the fire. Shortly after his release, he had again attempted to burn the building to the ground.