Man beats cop for ‘locking-up’ his brother

AN ARIMA man who severely beat a police officer for “locking- up” his brother, was yesterday found guilty of attempted murder by a nine-member jury.

Following the verdict, defence attorney Dr Kenneth O’Brien asked Justice Ivor Archie to give them some time to introduce character evidence in the matter before sentencing was handed down. Justice Archie granted the request, however, he indicated that having regard to the seriousness of the offence and the evidence presented in the matter, he did not want to give any false hope. The accused,  Suresh Padarat, was then remanded in custody and the matter adjourned to October 22, for sentencing. Padarat, 46, of Samaroo Village, Arima was represented in the matter by attorneys Dr O’Brien and Beresford Charles, while the State was represented by Nadia James. The State closed its case after taking evidence from five witnesses, including eyewitness Sabrina Fraser. The facts presented before Justice Archie in the Port-of-Spain Fifth Criminal Court was that around 10 pm on Friday July 9, 1993, PC Martin Perreira entered a bar at Edna Street, Arima, to purchase something. There he met Suresh Padarat, who told him “Martin you are a marked man, you should not be liming around here.”

Perreira warned Padarat about the threat he had made and a quarrel erupted between the two men. After a while Perreira left the bar to go home. When he was about 20 metres from his home, he heard a vehicle approaching. When he looked around he saw a white Cortina driven by Padarat approaching him at a very fast rate. Perreira threw himself backwards onto a hedge, where he remained for about five to ten minutes. When he realised that the vehicle was not returning he continued to walk home. Just as Perreira neared a car, which was parked under a street light, he felt a severe blow to the back of his head. Perreira turned and saw Padarat, who told him, “Martin, yuh eh getting away tonight, tonight yuh dead.” Padarat then dealt Perreira several more blows about the body causing numerous injuries. Perreira became weak from the loss of blood due to the injuries he received and fell to the ground, where he begged Padarat to stop the attack. However, Padarat responded, “that is for locking up my brother.”