Quindon Bacchus shooting: Obstruction charge dismissed against ex-cop

More than three years after the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Quindon Bacchus sparked nationwide outrage and calls for police accountability, a Senior Magistrate has dismissed an obstruction charge brought against a former police rank linked to the investigation. At the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore upheld a no-case submission made by Defence Attorney Bernard DaSilva, resulting in the dismissal of an attempt to obstruct the course of justice charge against Damien Mc Lennon, a former member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). In delivering her ruling, Magistrate Azore found that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case, concluding that the evidence presented did not sufficiently support the allegation that Mc Lennon attempted to interfere with or derail the investigation into Bacchus’s killing. Mc Lennon was among the ranks charged in August 2022, amid mounting public pressure following Bacchus’s death on June 10, 2022, at Haslington, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The young man was shot during what police initially described as an operation, but that version of events was later challenged by eyewitness accounts, video footage and other findings that raised serious questions about the conduct of the ranks involved.

The shooting triggered days of protests along the East Coast corridor, with demonstrators demanding justice for Bacchus and accountability within the police force. Roads were blocked, clashes erupted between protesters and law enforcement. Several police ranks were charged with various offences, including murder and obstruction of justice. The obstruction charge against Mc Lennon centred on allegations that he was part of an effort to mislead investigators or conceal key facts surrounding the fatal shooting. However, throughout the proceedings, Mc Lennon’s defence maintained that his involvement in the operation was limited and that the prosecution failed to produce credible evidence showing any deliberate attempt on his part to obstruct justice. That argument ultimately prevailed with Monday’s ruling. Several other legal matters connected to Bacchus’s death remain ongoing, including criminal charges against other ranks.
In January Vice President (VP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that the State would be paying the $24 million compensation to the estate of Quindon Bacchus, who was unlawfully killed in 2022 when a team of police ranks gunned him down.
The High Court had ordered the State in November 2024 to pay the estate of Bacchus the sum of $1 million for his funeral expenses, $22.5 million as damages for the breach of his right to life, and $500,000 in costs. The State had indicated that it would appeal the ruling, but Jagdeo, during one of his press conferences told reporters that President Dr Irfaan Ali has intervened to stop the legal battle.
The police had claimed that the 25-year-old Bacchus was going to sell an undercover police rank an unlicensed firearm and after the rank had revealed himself to be a policeman, the father of one, who resided at Golden Grove, ECD, started to flee; and in the process, had discharged several rounds at the police.
The police claimed they returned fire, fatally hitting Bacchus. However, investigations revealed that there was no authorised police operation in that area, and no police commander was aware of any such operation. Examination of the firearm allegedly recovered at the scene had revealed that the firearm the police claimed Bacchus used to shoot at them was inoperable and could not have been fired by the deceased. Further, no civilian witness claimed to have seen Bacchus fire at the police. As a result of the incident and subsequent investigation by the police, several ranks were allegedly placed under close arrest. One such officer, Lance Corporal Kristoff DeNobrega, has been charged with the offence of murder.
In November, Justice Gino Persaud upheld a no-case submission in the matter involving De Nobrega, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Quindon Bacchus in June 2022. De Nobrega, 24, represented by Attorney George Thomas, had pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering 23-year-old Bacchus, who was shot dead on June 10, 2022, at Haslington, ECD. After the prosecution closed its case, the defence filed a no-case submission, contending that the evidence presented was insufficient to sustain a conviction. After upholding the no-case submission, the judge instructed the jury to deliver a formal not-guilty verdict, thereby clearing De Nobrega of the accusation.