‘Have you been sleeping well lately?’

“Have you been sleeping well lately? Under your eyes, they are dark, arent’ they? You sure it is not your conscience bothering you?”

These were some of the questions posed to witness Patrick Young by Coroner Sherman McNicolls yesterday as the inquest into the death of Akiel Chambers came to a close. Young, who said he was an accounts executive with Agostini Insurance Brokers, was recalled to the witness stand yesterday and encountered a serious grilling from the Coroner.  Young denied that he knew Akiel very well. He denied ever telling the investigating officer PC Clive Alvarez that he knew Akiel personally. He said he only knew Akiel from Blackman’s Private School where his two children attended.

CORONER: Did you ever speak to Akiel?
YOUNG: I never spoke to him, I just knew him from Blackman’s.
CORONER: So Akiel just asked you to borrow your pants?
YOUNG: I lent him, maybe because I was first to leave the party that is why he asked me.
CORONER: Did you see or hear Akiel asking anybody else for their pants?
YOUNG: No. CORONER: Did you ask Akiel if he could swim?
YOUNG: No.
CORONER: Did you think you were reckless in not asking Akiel if he could swim.
YOUNG: I don’t think so.
CORONER: So if another child had asked you to borrow your pants, you would have lent them?
YOUNG: Maybe, I would have.
CORONER: It shows a certain level of familiarity. You said you lent it to Akiel, but you are not sure you would have lent it to another child. Why didn’t Akiel ask for it before?
YOUNG: He asked if we had another pants earlier. That would have been around four o’clock.
CORONER; But you told Constable Alvarez that you knew Akiel personally.
YOUNG: I don’t know where Alvarez got that. I am saying that I never told him that. It is a material fact, knowing someone personally. Sorry, but I did not tell Alvarez that.
CORONER: Do you go to church? YOUNG: Yes.
CORONER: How regularly? YOUNG: Every week.
CORONER: If you were to see the pants you lent Akiel, you would be able to recognise it?
YOUNG: I am not sure.
CORONER: Why? Are you afraid to hold the pants? Didn’t you think it was oversized for Akiel?
YOUNG: No, this is a boy’s pants (holding it up in court).
CORONER: How old was your son? YOUNG : Ten.
CORONER: How tall was he?
YOUNG: I don’t know, maybe four feet.
CORONER: What about Akiel?
YOUNG: He was taller than my son.
CORONER: You remember that! How come you remembered that? How many times you saw Akiel that afternoon?
YOUNG: I saw him when he came in, I saw him when we were eating food. I saw him walking around the pool, maybe at the sticking of the cake. CORONER: You remember those things?
YOUNG: I had my children to look after. I was also supervising the children in the pool.
CORONER: Did you see Akiel in the pool? YOUNG: No.
CORONER: Have you been sleeping well lately? Under your eyes, they are dark, aren’t they?
YOUNG: I have the cold.
CORONER: You sure it isn’t your conscience bothering you?
YOUNG: I am sure.

Questioned by acting Inspector Kenneth Cordner, Young said he knew Trevor Craigwell. But he could not understand how Craigwell could say that he (Young) bought ties and other items from him. Young said he was telling the truth. Questioned by Desmond Allum SC, Young said he gave Akiel a lift from Blackman’s Private School no more than three times. He denied knowing where Akiel lived. He said on each occasion, he dropped Akiel off at the corner of Park and Frederick Streets, although he worked on Henry Street and Akiel lived on Henry Street. “I had never thought of asking Akiel where he lived. My son did not even know.”

CORONER: Don’t you think that courtesy demanded you to know where Akiel lived? He lived right there on Henry Street.
YOUNG: I only read that in the newspapers.
CORONER: You dropped him once, you dropped him twice, you dropped him a third time, and you never asked, as a concerned, loving father? Are there other times you cannot remember? How come you gave him these lifts?
YOUNG: He asked my son because I was going right there on Henry Street.
CORONER: You know you can’t dispute it, because it is factual. Are you aware of two emails circulating about you? YOUNG: Yes. I tried to find out who did it. I tried to trace it, but who ever did it knew what they were doing.
CORONER: Was Akiel taller than you? YOUNG: Akiel was not taller than me.
CORONER: You remember that! Were you taken on a tour of the James’ residence?
YOUNG: No, I did not go upstairs. I went to retrieve my son in the play room.