June 25th, 2014 -- The Douglas and Rouphine families wish to make the following statement, through their attorney, Mr. Carlyle Rogers, on the conclusion of the inquest into the death of Mr. Trevor Douglas.
“The decision of justifiable homicide, which the 5 member jury sitting at the Coroner’s Court found on Thursday, 19th June 2014 at the inquest into Trevor Douglas’ shot-in-the-back death by the St Kitts and Nevis Police Special Forces, (in the person of PC Wayne Hanley), is indeed sad for the family. They have lost a much loved one in such awful circumstances.
I will review the evidence with the family and advise them of all options available. Good policing is essential in ensuring public confidence in any police force and it was important that the St. Kitts and Nevis Police Force respond promptly, truthfully and sensitively to the family's enquiries, which it did not do.
Unfortunately, the conduct of the St. Kitts and Nevis Police Force in communicating with the family has been both disappointing and dismissive. On the 22nd May 2014 on behalf of the family, I wrote to the Commissioner requesting him to provide certain information and documents to me. Without a response from him, direct communication was made to the family indicating a date when it was proposed to hold an Inquest.
His refusal to even acknowledge my letter continued the pattern of St. Kitts and Nevis Police Force’s indifference and disrespect and moreover characterised Commissioner Walwyn’s conduct in this matter. In fact, certain documents such as the “Copies of Crimes Offence and Matters of Interest Reports of the Police for the 48 hour period beginning from 6.00hrs 26th March 2013 to 6.00hrs on 28th March 2013 or any other relevant period concerning the incident [and] the Police Investigative Report sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions of the shooting incident” which were requested in the letter have not been shared with the family nor were they disclosed at the Inquest and made known to the jury based on documentation that the Coroner provided to me at the conclusion of the Inquest. Those documents gave crucial eye-witness account on the circumstances of the shooting. The failure to disclose these documents needs explanation.
While the family is grateful to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for its efforts in leading the evidence before the Court, it feels that better communication could have existed between themselves and that office. By receiving a summons to attend, a member of the family learnt of the sitting of the Inquest less than a week before its commencement. The family were not provided with essential documents nor Court papers and the short-notice of the Inquest prevented me from attending earlier than when I did.
My practice is based in Anguilla and I was unable to re-arrange prior appointments in Anguilla and those in Europe to fit in with the sitting of the Inquest. Nonetheless, my presence was merely as an observer and not a participant in the Inquest given my unavoidably late attendance. While we do not feel that my presence or the presence of another family lawyer would have made a difference in the jury’s decision, a better approach from the Attorney General’s Chambers would have been most helpful.
The family does not understand why the Attorney General’s Office showed such a casual and disinterested response to their request or feelings. They never got a response at all of any meaningful substance from that office. Both the Attorney General’s Office and the Director of Public Prosecutions – which are constitutional offices - exist in St. Kitts and Nevis to serve the public and none of the pleas that the family made, since Trevor’s death in March 2013, were unreasonable.
Many Caribbean countries provide for police accountability and complaints procedures - as well as give families of deceased persons a right to be legally represented and heard at a Coroner’s Inquest.
The family and I are extremely grateful to the Coroner, Her Honour Mrs. Josephine Mallalieu-Webbe for extending to the family the courtesy of being at the Inquest and to make a request for documents since they were not participants in the Inquest. The St. Kitts and Nevis legislation does not allow a family or it, legal representation at inquests. We feel that this should be a right enshrined in law as opposed to being left to the Coroner’s discretion.
An independent police complaints authority mandated to fully investigate Police powers in the exercise of their duties as well as being able to entertain complaints against the Police would go a long way towards building confidence in the Police and their conduct in the eyes of the public and would have prevented Trevor Douglas’ family from waiting over a year to be informed of the circumstances of his demise. I hope that St. Kitts and Nevis follows suit by examining both these facets of its laws: democracy demands it.”
*************************
DISCLAIMER
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers
