Burning of State witness’ shack

Police officers of the Couva CID said the two men were not detained, but were assisting in the investigation into the burning of the wooden shack at Henry Street west.

Fire prevention officers are expected to return to the scene of the fire today to conduct a forensic examination of the premises in order to ascertain the cause of the fire. However, police suspect that the fire was set deliberately to the house in which the State witness, his parents and five younger siblings once lived. The house was vacated a few days after the discovery of Sean Luke’s body in a cane field opposite Henry Street west on March 28, police said, since the witness and his family had received threats from other villagers.

Six-year-old Sean Luke bled to death after he was sodomised with a cane stalk. Two boys — a 13-year-old of Lady Young Road, Morvant, and a 16-year-old of Orange Valley — have been charged with Sean Luke’s murder and have appeared before a Couva Magistrate. A date is yet to be set for the preliminary inquiry. Attorney Darryl Giles who had represented one of the accused in his first court appearance said he was also threatened and withdrew from the case. Another attorney, Wayne Sturge, who appeared in a court hearing last week on behalf of the accused, said he too was threatened as he left the compound of the courthouse.

But with the series of threats circulating from villagers who have expressed their outrage over the brutal killing of the six-year-old, police noted that the burning of the State witness’ home, was the “first act of lawlessness” since the tragedy.