BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A Syndicated Columnist and businessman on Nevis is of the view that the press should be present at the inquest into Philo Wallace’s shooting-death, which is scheduled for Wednesday (Jan. 21).
The bona fide pro bono member of the press, James Milnes-Gaskell, claims that the Coroner’s Inquest should not be a closed-door affair and that media representatives should be there to report that justice was served.
“The whole thing of a Coroner’s Inquest to me is not the way that all others shootings are treated. But as a closed court, the Coroner’s Court, with police arranging witnesses and the five-man jury, is something that the press should report upon to show that justice is being upheld. I think the press needs to be there to tell the people what’s happening. They need to be there to dispel the colourful news or maybe a cover up.”
This view, however, does not sit well with the designated Coroner who, in response to Gaskell’s letter requesting permission as a journalist to attend the inquest, denied him access to the hearing on the grounds that it is not an open court.
In an exclusive interview, Gaskell told SKNVibes that he informed the Coroner that his presence at the inquest was “in the interest of community harmony and the overall end to the inquiry”.
Gaskell noted that the designated Coroner informed him that according to Section 23 of the Coroners Act, the court sitting of a Coroner’s Court is a closed Court.
He quoted the Coroner as saying: “I will not be opening the court to persons involved in the matter. I therefore respectfully refused permission to attend the Inquest.”
Gaskell said, like many others in St. Kitts and Nevis, he is troubled about the case and provided an analysis of the situation leading up to the Coroner’s Inquest.
“We’re told that a number of policemen were at the Enrique’s Bar and I am sure that if the person who shot Philo Wallace had been a gang member instead of a policeman, then everyone would expect that person would have been immediately arrested and charged and all the police present would give evidence and the case would move quickly in open court. So I think that if it seems that the policeman is being dealt with favourably, then this serious affair might disturb everyone and reduces the community’s trust in the police. And after all, we are supposed to be on the same side; the police and the community are supposed to be against the criminals.”
The businessman also made reference to the regular calls police make for public assistance whenever a crime is committed and they do not know who the perpetrators are.
“I think that whenever there is a crime, the police appeal to the community to provide information in order to help bring the criminals to justice, and that they do constantly. Unfortunately, their appeals are not always backed up by police behaviour which will encourage the public to come forth and help.”
As a citizen residing in Nevis, Gaskell stressed that his interest is to see the reduction of crime in the twin-island Federation and that the Inquest might end similar to the US Watergate scandal.
“My interest is to reduce crime and this is a function of a good police and community operation. I am sure the Coroner will conduct the Inquest quite properly. But if it turns out to be a cover up with the police-arranged witnesses and the police-arranged jury, then that will not augur well for the relationship between the police and the community, which is already strained.
“I believe that the young victim, Philo Wallace, and his family deserve justice. No one wants this to become ‘Philogate’ as the Watergate scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s, following a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC and President Richard Nixon's administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement.”
Philo Wallace, a promising 17-year-old cricketer of Hamilton Village in Nevis, was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman on October 17 last year, which resulted in a public outcry for justice.
According to reports, at about 3:45 a.m. on the day in question, he was shot in the chest while at Enrique’s Bar and died at the Alexandra Hospital approximately half hour after arriving there. Reports also indicate that prior to the shooting, there was an altercation within the bar where the police officer sustained an injury to his head.
As a result, investigations into the matter were done by the police and the case file was sent to the then Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Arudranauth Gossai, who wrote a letter to Her Worship Jasmine Clarke on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 advising her to hold a Coroner’s Inquest into the matter.
The Inquest will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday (Jan. 21) at the District ‘C’ Magistrate’s Court in Charlestown, Nevis.
This publication was reliably informed that Hugh Oswald Wallace, father of the slain teen, was among those summoned as witnesses to attend the Inquest.
