A journalist’s nightmare

WITH CRIME on the upsurge in Trinidad and Tobago, and with laws that need amending — penalties for drug offenders and kidnappers including — one has to be mindful of the role the legal system plays in combatting violent incidents, especially among the nation’s youth. Between the period of September 1, 2002, and May 28, 2003, I was privy to witnessing the legal system first hand, in a way I would have preferred not to! As a victim/lone witness to an aggravated robbery incident on my way home I had to undergo the trauma of attending court, in, of all places, Arima. The problems faced by prisoners, witnesses, visitors and workers at the temporary/permanent (depends on which way one looks at it) Arima Magistrates’ Court were highlighted in a recent newspaper story. But it is really an ordeal to be challenged with delayed cases (which I had to face on a regular basis), bomb scares, humid conditions, which aggravate prisoners enclosed in a pair of Amalgamated Security vans to the extent that they create an uproar, and cramped rooms in the Third Court. Those problems aside, it was a shell-shocking experience to recreate the incident on the night of September 1, which I had to do when I gave my testimony to the Magistrate, Gail Gonsalves, on May 13.

The defendants — 19-year-old Nigel Pamphille and 20-year-old Dwayne Nicholas, had a tough time proving their case with lawyer Hugh Jacobs at their side. I was as nervous as I had ever been in my life. This nervousness was increased by   the fact that the West Indies cricket team were inching their way towards a famous three-wicket victory over Australia in Antigua. I was asked time and time again to reconsider testifying against the duo, even up until May 12, but I felt obligated to act within the law and state my case as follows: After walking from O’Meara Road, via La Chance Trace, to Subero Street in Malabar, I noticed two guys (on the opposite side of the street) following me. I don’t know whether it was a sixth sense but I had an uneasy feeling that something was “going to give.” Looking over my back regularly, I felt the need to divert my path but, at the corner of Subero Street and Malabar Gardens, the guys, perhaps reading my thoughts, decided to confront me and, with a gun, demanded that I “pass everything.”

I complied, handing them my cellular phone and $15 but, in their greed, they snatched a pouch which contained my walkman and $300 which I had withdrawn from the bank during the day. After I spotted five ‘limers’ and related my story, they offered to call the police on my behalf (for which I’m eternally grateful), and, in the space of 10-15 minutes, the police had picked up the guys on O’Meara Road. They were awaiting public transportation to head back to Arima. It was ironic that, after running through a short-cut, they took the contents of my pouch and discarded the empty pouch on the property of legendary, notorious murderer Abdul Malik. The stolen items (ALL) were recovered  and the duo arrested without incident. Their story to the officers was that I willingly gave them the stuff when asked for directions (imagine that)!!! Nicholas, the accomplice, and who, on the night of the incident had a bottle, was granted bail, while Pamphille (whom I was later told was on bail on a marijuana charge) remained incarcerated until the trial begun. Both Nicholas and Pamphille were handed three-year sentences with hard labour by Magistrate Gonsalves on May 28. But it would be remiss of me to end this episode without publicly thanking “the famous five,” patrol officers Rene Katwaroo, Raymond Emmanuel and Kyron Nicholson, as well as PC Chaumette and WPC Aguillera of the Malabar Police Post for their efforts on the night of September 1, 2002.