Man denies beating cop

Lawrence Goddard gave evidence against PC Dave Burnett at the Fourth Criminal Court before Justice Ian Stuart Brook, maintained that on the fatal morning he and five of his friends — Kevin Cato, Ryan Solomon, Rondel Fields, Mark Fermin and Kester Hudson — had not attacked and beaten Burnett.

Burnett, 32, of St Barbs Road, Belmont, was on duty at the Pier 1 fete, where he shot Cato during an alleged altercation. The teenager was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he subsequently died.

Goddard also denied suggestions by defence attorney Pamela Elder SC that he had been lying when he told the police he had not witnessed a struggle between Burnett and his friends. Regarding perceived inconsistencies between his statements and the evidence he had given in court, Goddard said he had never told the police he had seen Burnett slap Cato.

"What I told him," Goddard said, "was that I heard it being said."

In response to Elder’s questions on several "inconsistencies by omission" in his statement, Goddard said when he had given the first statement in January he had been "nervous and confused."

According to Goddard, shortly after the shooting, two police officers who had been eager to do their job seemed to lose interest after they had spoken to the accused. He said when he went to the Four Roads Police Station to file a report, he thought the police officer there was one of the officers who had been at the scene and he (Goddard) became afraid and guarded. The trial continues today.