Embattled Chief Justice Ivor Archie has gone on vacation leave until the end of next month.

An email sent by his administrative secretary Shabiki Cazabon to Judges and Masters of the T&T Supreme Court yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by the T&T Guardian, advised that Archie would be out of the jurisdiction from May 19 to June 30 to continue his vacation leave, which was cut short due to his mother’s death earlier this month.

The email stated that Appellate Judge Allan Mendonca will act as Chief Justice between May 19 and June 7 and from June 18 to June 29. Appellate Judge Alice Yorke-Soo Hon will act as Chief Justice from June 8 to June 17.

The correspondence comes less than three weeks after a similar email was circulated May 2, indicating that Archie’s vacation ended when he returned to T&T for his mother’s funeral that week.

Contacted by Guardian Media yesterday, Cheryl Lala, communications consultant to President Paula-Mae Weekes, confirmed that Archie’s apparent second leave period was simply a continuation of the first, which was approved by former president Anthony Carmona, earlier this year.

“I think it was just a continuation of the leave...When you add it up, the previous leave was broken a few times,” she said.

She went on: “She (Weekes) granted permission for him to be out of the jurisdiction and as far as the leave is concerned it was granted before by her predecessor.”

While Archie’s initial seven-week leave period would have been “broken up” by the Judiciary’s one-week Easter vacation and his early return, questions are still being raised over how these could result in him essentially going on six additional weeks vacation.

“It simply does not add up. The highest he should be entitled to is two more weeks if we consider the holidays last month and if he resumed duties as soon as he returned for his mother’s funeral,” one judge, who spoke to Guardian Media under the condition of anonymity, said.

The judge said that while Archie returned on May 2, his first official court appearance was a week later, when he presided over the admission of over 100 new attorneys.

He also questioned if Archie took more than the allotted six weeks before he left to pursue a fellowship at the Federal Judicial Centre in Washington, DC, at the end of March.

“Another six weeks? From where does this entitlement arise?” the judge asked.

He explained that beyond leave during the Judiciary’s Easter and Christmas breaks, judges are entitled to between four to six weeks vacation, which falls within the Judiciary’s annual summer vacation between August to mid-September. The Chief Justice and Appellate Judges are entitled to six weeks.

In the event that judges have to work through the August vacation period or have to leave the jurisdiction during the Law Term, they may apply for permission for such leave.

The issue of Archie’s leave first arose in March after it was revealed that Carmona approved a six-month sabbatical to allow Archie to participate in the fellowship.

While Archie stated that the sabbatical policy was decided by the Salaries Review Commission (SRC) and an internal Judiciary sub-committee, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and several of his colleagues questioned whether an official policy was ratified.

Archie then announced that he would be taking 35 weeks accrued vacation leave. However, he amended his position to seven-weeks after questions were raised over whether judges were entitled to the accumulation of their vacation leave.

Almost two years after he was freed of being a member of the gang linked to the assassination of Dana Seetahal, SC, a man from Carapo has been arrested for trespassing at the Piarco International Airport.

The suspect was arrested at the airport by Airports Authority security on Sunday after he was spotted running near the terminal building. He remained detained and is expected to appear in the Arima Magistrate’s Court today.

A short video clip of the incident was shared on social media sites and services yesterday. It shows a bare-backed man surrendering to a group of security personnel.

In the video, the man is heard attempting to give an explanation for his presence in the restricted area. His voice was barely audible above the sound of equipment operating in the background.

The man told security officers he was attacked while walking near the University of T&T (UTT) ECIAF Campus at Caroni North Bank Road in Centeno, which borders the runway of the airport. He claimed he passed through a hole in the fence to escape. His claims were being investigated by police up to late yesterday.

Doubles vendor Nizam Mohammed will spend the next five years in jail for killing a man by setting him on fire.

Mohammed was charged with murder, but he was found guilty on March 28 to the lesser offence of manslaughter on the basis of provocation. Yesterday, Justice Maria Wilson sentenced him to 15 years in prison but the ten years he spent in custody awaiting trial was subtracted.

Mohammed 45, his wife, Putitia and former worker, Timothy Sammy, were jointly charged with the 2008 murder of Stephen Joshua, also called Jumbo.

The incident occurred at the couple’s Cipero Road, Friendship Village, San Fernando home on May 3, 2008, during an altercation.

Following a trial in the San Fernando Third Criminal Court, Putitia, 39, and Sammy were both found not guilty while Mohammed was found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Mohammed did not give evidence during the trial but his defence was provocation and self-defence.

He claimed Joshua was always harassing him. On the day of the incident, according to the State’s case, the altercation began when Joshua entered Mohammed’s home and the argument continued outside.

Putitia called the police for help. Eyewitnesses testified that they saw Mohammed cuff Joshua repeatedly and attempt to wrap an electrical cord around Joshua’s neck.

Joshua fell into a drain. Mohammed picked up a container of gasoline, poured the contents on Joshua and set him on fire with a lighter. The victim died ten days later at the San Fernando General Hospital. An autopsy revealed that Joshua was burnt to death.

In passing sentence, the judge said Joshua’s wife, in her victim impact statement, said she has not yet recovered from her husband’s death. The wife said Joshua’s death was gruesome, slow and painful and affected her mentally, physically and financially.

Although Mohammed was provoked, the judge said a custodial sentence was appropriate because a life had been lost. The judge starting point was 24 years in jail but it was reduced it to 21 years after she took into consideration the prisoner’s age, he has three children, no previous convictions, among other mitigating factors things.

Wilson shaved off another six years because he had indicated since 2016 his willingness to plead guilty to manslaughter. Mohammed’s wife Putitia and three children—who are still in school— were among several relatives in court. Mohammed was represented by Israel Khan SC and attorney Alima Alexis while the case was prosecuted by state attorney Trevor Jones.

A woman charged with the attempted murder of her husband was granted $250,000 bail when she appeared before a Sangre Grande magistrate yesterday.

Kamatie Ramdial 57, of Valencia, appeared before Senior Magistrate Debra Quintyne of Sangre Grande First Court.

On March 14, her husband, Anslem Picton 57, of First Caigual, Sangre Chiquito was found at the side of the road in Matura suffering from gunshot injuries.

Villagers called in police officers assigned to the Matura Police Station and the injured man was taken to the hospital.

Investigations led by Sgt Greaux led to the arrest of Ramdial. She was charged following instructions received from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution.

Ramdial is scheduled to reappear in court on June 11.

RALPH BANWARIE
 

Former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) retired chief justice Michael de la Bastide says if Barbados withdraws from the appellate jurisdiction of the court it will “seriously undermine the standing of the court in the eyes of the people of the region.”

He is hoping that the threat to withdraw would not become reality.

Barbados was the first Caribbean country to adopt the CCJ as its final Court of Appeal and that decision has become an issue in the current campaign for the May 28 election in that country.

Barbados’ Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has signalled “once the Democratic Labour Party is returned to office Barbados will be withdrawing from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final court of appeal.”

Stuart had first raised the issue at the Caricom inter-sessional in March where he said that only four Caricom countries—Barbados, Guyana, Dominica and Belize—had made their CCJ their final court of appeal.

He told a political meeting: “I think the attitude coming from Port-of-Spain leaves much to be desired in terms of how it’s treating Barbados and I am not going to have a situation where other countries in the Caribbean keep a safe, distance from that court while Barbados supports it.”

The Barbadian leader has also expressed unhappiness with the rulings of the court saying they “were not reflecting positively on Barbados.”

Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, de la Bastide said if Barbados withdraws from the court it will be a “retrograde step,” for that country and one that will “seriously undermine the standing of the court” in the region.

“One hopes it does not come to pass,” de la Bastide said.

Stuart made it clear Barbados will not return to the Privy Council as its final court of appeal, but offered no alternative to the CCJ, prompting de la Bastide to ask “is he going to make the Barbados Court of Appeal the final court?”

He hopes that if Stuart wins the election that the threat would not be carried out.

Just why T&T had failed to join the CCJ has to do with politics and de la Bastide said the politicians will have to say why the court established by Caricom member states in 2001 and inaugurated in 2005 and which is based in Port- of- Spain had not been adopted by T&T as its final appellate court.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi blames the Opposition UNC for this. He said “the matter of full accession to the CCJ is one that lies squarely within the realm of the UNC politics.”

Legislation to make the CCJ the final appellate court requires a special majority—which is three-fifths of the Parliament voting in favour of the change from the Privy Council to the CCJ.

Al-Rawi said, “The ability to take full matters to the CCJ is based upon constitutional majority which the UNC has blatantly said they would never support.”

This, he said, was “borne out by the fact” that they “blatantly refused to do it when they were in government in the period 2010-2015.”

As a result, he said, “there is nothing that the present government can do to compel the move toward the CCJ as the final court of appeal.”

Al-Rawi conceded that “there may be merit in some of what he (Stuart) is saying in so far as it coincides with the current position of T&T.” See Page A16

A Couva housewife has to appear in the Couva Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with falsely reporting to police that she and her son were kidnapped by four men. 

Sapna Chinyan, 32, claimed the kidnappers had demanded a $30,000 ransom for their safe release.

According to media release from the Corporate Communications Unit of the Police Service, the woman reported that around 7.30 am last Thursday the men abducted her and her six-year-old son from their Carli Bay Road home.

She said the four unarmed men took them in a Nissan Almera to a location along the Southern Main Road, Claxton Bay, where they demanded the ransom.

The police claimed Chinyan told them she was allowed to leave to collect the ransom money, but the men kept her son until she returned.

She made the report around 11.40 am at the Couva Police Station.

However, the police obtained CCTV footage which allegedly did not corroborate her story. She was subsequently charged with wasteful employment of the police by PC Visham Ramoutar of the Couva CID.

Chinyan appeared before a Justice of the Peace last Friday and was granted $5,000 own bail. The matter will next be heard on Thursday when she will appear before a magistrate.

Although Caribbean Airline’s (CAL) financial position has improved, CEO Garvin Medera says there is still a lot to be done

“The reality is that the airline is very seasonal. Each quarter would present different challenges. It is not constant throughout the year, so profitability as a whole for the airline does not necessarily hinge on one quarter or the other. We have improved significantly year-on-year,” he said.

According to Medera, among the challenges for the state owned carrier is that it did not make a profit on the airbridge.

“Anytime we put up flights on the airbridge we make a loss, so any improvements would have been on other routes,” he said.

Medera spoke to the media following the launch of CAL’s Caribbean Plus product at the airline’s head office, Golden Grove Road, Arouca, yesterday.

Caribbean Plus offers extra leg room in the economy cabin of CAL’s Boeing 737 aircraft and affords travelers the opportunity to pre-book and pay for seats in rows 4-10 with additional leg room.

The programme starts on June 1.

Seats may be bought on all routes subject to availability, except domestic flights between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Prices of the seats would depend on distance.

He said recent increases in energy prices would affect the airline’s expenses but were a normal part of doing business.

Judges of both the Supreme and Appeal Courts are said to be upset over the decision by Chief Justice Ivor Archie to proceed on an additional six-week vacation and are demanding answers about the “type’ of leave he has proceeded on.

Archie left the country last weekend. In his absence, Justice Allan Mendonca will act as Chief Justice from May 19t-June 7, when Mendonca himself will be out of the country.

Appeal Court Judge Alice Yorke Soo Hon will act from June 8-17 and Mendonca will act again from June 18-29-. Archie is due to return to office on June 30.

In an email to judges, Archie’s administrative secretary Shabiki Cazabon said the CJ would be out of the jurisdiction from May 19-June 30 to continue his vacation leave cut short by the death of his mother.

The T&T Guardian was told members of the Judiciary and “even those in the Court of Appeal,” are “very angry” at the leave. By their calculation, Archie is only entitled to a further two weeks.

“We are very upset, nobody understands the leave,” the judges said.

One angry member of the Judiciary told the T&T Guardian, “It is time for members of the Court of Appeal to stand up for what is right and bring an end to this. The Court of Appeal has to say the Judiciary cannot take this.”

Last November, Archie applied for six months sabbatical leave which was approved by then-president Anthony Carmona. But that leave was scuttled after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley raised questions about the authority for it after he received a request for Justice Allan Mendonca to act as CJ in Archie’s absence. The recommendation for sabbatical leave was contained in the 98th report of the Salaries Review

Commission but not approved by the Parliament. An interpretation summons filed by the state on the matter will be heard in June.

Archie then announced he was taking vacation leave and left the country in March. He returned recently following the death of his mother, but flew out again last weekend on vacation leave.

Yesterday, with questions swirling in the public domain about the additional six weeks leave, legal sources called on President Paula-Mae Weekes to “clear the air” and tell the country “what is the nature of the leave which was approved and where did it come from?”

They added that it’s not “good enough” for Weekes to say this leave was approved by the former president.

Israel Khan SC defended Weekes, saying if the leave had been approved by her predecessor “she had little choice in the matter.”

Khan told the Guardian it is open to interpretation that the leave which Archie had embarked on was “sabbatical leave,” but questioned how as CJ he could proceed on such leave given the matter is now before the court for interpretation. He said “until the court interprets the summons as to whether he is entitled to sabbatical leave or not, the status quo remains”. However, he said, “The CJ ought not to take that leave until the court decides.”

He said the President “could have stepped out of her crease and said she was awaiting the court’s ruling on the interpretation summons, but given that the leave had been approved by the former president she wanted to be objective and not take sides.”

However, Khan said it was passing strange that nowhere was it mentioned that the CJ’s original six-week vacation leave was broken because of his mother’s funeral.

Police and fire officers were searching the Usine Pond in Ste Madeleine last night, following a report that a woman threw a baby into the water.

Southern Division police said they did not know if the report was a hoax, but had no choice but to search the pond to see if it was true.

Around 8 pm, police received a report that a woman was seen walking towards to the pond with a baby in her hand. Minutes later, she walked back to the Manahambre Road without the baby and entered a gold

Nissan Almera sedan and left. Ste Madeleine police responded and divers attached the Fire Service began combing the bank of the pond.

Police detectives were also hoping to source video footage from nearby CCTV systems in hope of finding the alleged car and woman.

In recent times, the Usine Pond, which was used to supply the now-defunct Ste Madeleine sugar factory, has been turned into a dumping ground for killers. Last April, the decomposed body of a mentally impaired man, David Conlisse, was found floating in the pond. In 2017, two men, including a Canadian national, were murdered and dumped in the pond.

The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) board of management’s decision to refuse hijab-wearing On-the-Job-Trainee (OJT) Nafisah Nakhid on the Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College compound is now being investigated as it directly contravenes section four of the Constitution.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia has already sought the advice of the Attorney General in the matter, noting the act “has far-reaching implications” and “there will not be a repeat”.

Nakhid was assigned to the school by the ministry but was refused entry when she reported for duty this week. A youtube.com personality who engages in discussion on several social issues, including Islam, Nakhid later took to her “Nafisah Talks” channel and highlighted the scenario. In the 16-minute video, Nakhid alleged she was told that Muslims wearing the hijab are not allowed on the school compound. She claimed she was told by a school official that if she wished to remain assigned to the school she would have to take off her hijab before entering the compound and keep it off until she is ready to leave. An emotional Nakhid said she was shocked this happened to her and she became very disoriented after the incident.

“Am I to be a Muslim via shift? Is my hijab a job? Does Allah give me a break?” Nakhid asked in the video.

Breaking down in tears in the video, Nakhid said she cannot change being a Muslim.

“I don’t understand how in 2018 this is happening. You have no idea how this affected me. I came home and was so disoriented, I was shocked that this happened to me and I needed to share this experience,” she said.

“It blows my mind that that is what we are doing in society today. Why we continue to separate these religions and why racists continue to divide our society? It hurt me, not because of the school and the organisation but as a human.”

Up to press time, there was already close to 6000 views.

In a release yesterday, Garcia described the incident as a “flagrant disregard of the laws enshrined in the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.”

The move, he said, “sets Trinidad and Tobago back in terms of the steps we have made for religious inclusion and tolerance.”

Garcia noted that Lakshmi Girls Hindu College is a government-assisted secondary school and therefore operates within the same guidelines of public schools in Trinidad and Tobago.

“No institution, organisation or person can create any rules that supersede those enshrined in our Constitution,” Garcia said.

“This is not the first instance of this kind in Trinidad and Tobago and a precedent has now been set by the cases that have been tried before. In 1995, in a case where a student and her family took on the school and the state for a similar issue, Justice Margot Warner gave a ruling that has since reinforced that it is unconstitutional to prohibit a child from the freedom of religious belief and observance. This has since guided the practice of religion at our schools and has been further extended to teachers, staff and in other professions.”

The School Supervision and Management Division of the ministry has been mandated to provide a full report of the incident, Garcia said.

Stemming from this incident, the ministry has also reminded principals to be aware of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and to be mindful of the human element in interactions where sensitive matters are concerned.

But Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha secretary general Sat Maharaj last night defended the decision in an interview with CNC3, saying Lakshmi Girls College is not a teacher training college. He said the body which assigns OJTs often asks them to take on these trainees and they sometimes do so, but said they are not obligated to train teachers. He said in any event, any individual who was accepted to teach in their schools would still have to conform to the code of conduct and behaviour of the institution. He confirmed, however, that there are both teachers and students at Lakshmi who are Muslim.

The Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, part I, section 4.

It is hereby recognised and declared that in Trinidad and Tobago there have existed and shall continue to exist, without discrimination by reason of race, origin, colour, religion or sex, the following fundamental human rights and freedoms, namely:

(h) Freedom of conscience and religious belief and observance;

Given the recent increase in murders of the “innocent”, including last Thursday’s murder of Uber driver Christopher Mohammed and Sunday’s killing of McDonald’s Cipriani Boulevard’s branch manager Ashmeed Mohammed, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said it is time for tough action.

Persad-Bissessar was a specially invited guest at Christopher Mohammed’s funeral yesterday at the St Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Petit Valley.

In her special tribute, Persad-Bissessar, who said she did not want to politicise the service, urged the scores of mourners to “join hands and say enough is enough.”

“At a time when we are seeing the lives of so many daughters and sons of our soil being snuffed out; it is any parent’s worst nightmare to lose a child, and I can only imagine the pain felt by these families having lost their loved ones,” Persad-Bissessar said.

Persad-Bissessar recently called on the Government to look at the option of getting soldiers involved in the fight against crime by giving them the powers of arrest.

Describing the upsurge in violent crime, home invasions and murders as frightening yesterday, she criticised the Government’s silence and inaction in dealing with this issue. She disclosed that she was asked by the Mohammed family to assist them in coming up with an initiative that will help keep Mohammed’s memory alive. She promised to meet with them soon to continue discussions. Persad-Bissessar urged the family to keep their faith in God during this difficult time.

Officiating Priest Father Stephen Geofroy, in his homily, said he was moved by the message delivered by American Bishop Michael Bruce Curry during the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday.

Geofroy’s advice to the mourner’s gathered was that what was needed in society is love.

“We have to connect our experiences to love and be loved. I was moved by the Bishop from the Royal Wedding…It is the power of love, it is the only hope we have.”

Mohammed was described as a humble person with a positive attitude who dearly loved his family during the service. He was also noted as a well-organised planner known for writing down his plans in a diary and working towards them and achieving the many goals he had set for himself, his family and his girlfriend. Mohammed was also described as one who was “always ready to give a helping hand.”

Mohammed, 28, was shot and killed during an apparent carjacking while on a Uber drive, which was his part-time job. He worked as a sous chef aboard an oil rig.

A drug cartel is believed to be behind the abduction and murder of Freeport mother Anita Mohammed, whose mutilated remains were discovered at No. 9 Petrotrin Field Road near oil pump No. 481 in Santa Flora five months ago.

Mohammed, 45, of Raphael Road, Freeport, had been tortured before she was killed. Her fingers, toes and genitals were also cut off. Although police were working on a major clue in the investigation, nobody has been arrested or charged with the murder.

Mohammed had been reported missing on December 20th and eight days later her remains were found but at that time there was no confirmation of her identity. The body, minus its hands and feet, was so badly decomposed that her children Chelsea, 20 and son Tristan, 19, could not identify her. Tissue samples were taken for testing and toxicology tests were also done.

Unwilling to believe the remains belonged to her mother, Chelsea took to Facebook begging TSTT to release her mother’s cellular phone records so they could get the identity of the person she last spoke with at the time of her abduction. It was only yesterday that head of corporate communications of the T&T Police Service, Ellen Lewis, confirmed the forensic analysis done of the remains showed they belonged to Mohammed. She was eventually identified by her uncle.

Chelsea and Tristan were not available for comment yesterday. However, a close family source said Mohammed’s death confirmed their suspicion that the drug cartel was involved in her murder. Prior to her disappearance, Mohammed had become distant to her extended family and neighbours. Her husband died five years before, leaving the family heavily in debt.

Mohammed reportedly became depressed started working at a bakery to pay off outstanding loans. She could not bear to sell their mansion at Raphael Road, Freeport, which her husband built, so she worked hard to keep it although she had difficulty maintaining the grounds and buildings. The source said Mohammed later opened her home for rent and two Spanish-speaking men moved in late last year. Strangers were often seen coming to the property located near a duck farm.

The source said two days before she disappeared, the renters were heard arguing loudly and a woman could be heard crying. Mohammed never confided in her extended family and sources said her troubles were kept confidential. After her disappearance, police questioned a foreigner but there was no evidence to lay charges.

Members of the Homicide Region Three are continuing investigations.

Relatives of murdered Mc Donald’s manager Ashmeed Mohammed believe they will get justice for his death.

Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, Mohammed’s sister, Racine, sent a message to her brother’s killers.

She said: “I want the three of them to know that we serve an Almighty God, Jesus Christ and we will get justice. Maybe not here on earth but we will get justice.”

The woman said her parents were deeply traumatised by the Ashmeed’s murder and intend to “leave everything in God’s hands.”

She said her family remains in the dark over the progress of the police investigations.

“We have not heard from any of them. Nothing. We heard that a police sergeant (name called) was assigned lead but we don’t even know what he looks like. He has not contacted us,” she said.

Mohammed was at the Cipriani Avenue, Port-of-Spain fast food restaurant on Sunday after the business was closed when he responded to a knock on the door.

Police said he opened it and after a few minutes he was heard begging for his life.

Co-workers heard three gunshots and later found Mohammed dead near the door.

Guardian Media understands investigators have gotten a lead into Mohammed’s murder which suggests three men used a known homeless person to lure Mohammed to open the door. The incident occurred after 11 pm.

“It seems that the homeless man was used by the men because people saw Mohammed helping out the same man many times before in giving him food.

“So, it is suspected that the plan was to rob the establishment but to get Mohammed to open the door but that’s when it backfired on the gunmen. They shot Mohammed dead and as a result, they had to escape without any loot,” a source close to the investigation said.

Investigations are continuing.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon is once again promising greater collaboration and more resources for the Police Service as he met with the executive arm and divisional commanders of the Police Service yesterday in the face of a growing number of murders across the country.

Dillon told the lawmen that the approach going forward will be based on cooperation and collaboration, and expressed Government’s desire to provide the necessary resources for the Police Service to perform its tasks efficiently and effectively.

In a similar meeting held on July 11, 2016, Dillon stated that the Ministry’s priority was to continuously provide all national security agencies involved in the provision of law and order, and emergency response with the proper tools, equipment, manpower and methods to effectively perform their duties.

Just last week, police said that the rapidity of homicides across the country was a burden to investigators who already have several outstanding cases. Over people have been murdered for the year, the majority of the victims were shot dead.

A senior officer told Guardian Media yesterday that one of the issues discussed was the need for more manpower, vehicles and equipment but given the state of the country’s finances, the police will continue with what they have now.

A release from the Ministry of National Security stated: “He (Dillon) noted the Ministry of National Security’s efforts in treating with financial considerations for priority areas including the acquisition of new police vehicles and the maintenance of existing ones. Further, he reiterated that the Ministry continues to focus considerable attention on ensuring that the Police Service has the required manpower, access to modern security methodologies, equipment and physical infrastructure to carry out its mandate to make Trinidad and Tobago a more secure place for all.”

Divisional commanders and some members of the TTPS executives declined to shed more light on the meeting, saying that the acting Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Harold Phillip would be the most appropriate senior officers to comment.

However, they could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The release listed the Port-of-Spain, Northern, Southern, Western and Central divisions as those areas with the highest murder rates. The meeting was called by Dillon to get an update on the anti-crime strategies being used in those divisions and to clarify the support and resources that is needed from the Ministry.

It also focused on proposed strategies for the upgrade of existing technological systems to assist in intelligence-gathering and crime detection and ways to increase cooperation among the players involved in the Government’s inter-agency approach to crime prevention.

Divisional Heads reported that there were improvements in the detection rate, firearm seizures, surveillance and monitoring mechanisms, evidence–gathering, mobile and foot patrols, joint police/army patrols, community engagement initiatives and crime prevention projects.

In the face of a worsening crime problem, Government is hoping to get the assistance of the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Justice and the NSW Police Force and they are hoping that the teams will pay a visit to T&T in the near future to work with their counterparts here.

In April 2018, the Daily Telegraph reported that NSW has the fewest police officers per capita and spends less on crime-fighting than any other state, with spending on police services plummeting by more than half a billion dollars since 2016.

The police force, according to the report, is “the envy of the Western world” with statistics showing that crime rates were falling.

Yesterday Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the delegation including Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young met with officials from the New South Wales Department of Justice and the NSW Police Force where the discussions focused on national security issues.

In attendance at the meeting were Scott Corrigan of the NSW Department of Justice, Inspector Dave Gawel, Inspector Ben Hopper, Inspector Jeremy Woo, Supt Michael McLean, Snr Sgt John Manuel and a number of other officers from the NSW Department of Justice and the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet.

The round-table meeting focused on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism and the NSW whole of government approach and cross-agency cooperation in dealing with this issue.

Rowley and the T&T delegation also met with Australian Export Finance (EFIC) at their headquarters in Sydney.

EFIC is Australia’s export credit agency whose loans are backed by the Australian Government and geared towards assisting Australian exporters.

The delegation will travel to Tasmania today where they will meet with marine vessel manufacturers INCAT. A similar meeting took place on Monday with vessel manufacturer Austal.

Investigators probing the shooting and robbery of Scotiabank employee Roston Mahabir say they are hoping to charge a Fyzabad man for the crime before the end of week.

The suspect remained in the custody of San Fernando police up to yesterday, four days after he was arrested by South Western Division police at a house in Fyzabad.

Investigators said the suspect is in his early 30’s and is well-known to South Western Division police. They said they are wrapping up loose ends in order to build a solid case against the suspect.

Meanwhile, Mahabir, who suffered kidney damage from the gunshot wound he sustained during the robbery on May 19, remained warded at the San Fernando General Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Investigators are yet to get a statement from Mahabir and have not recovered the stolen items, but are relying on evidence they have gathered throughout their investigation.

Mahabir, 28, a premiere relationship officer, was just about to enter the bank at the corner of Penitence Street and High Street, San Fernando, when he was approached by a man who grabbed his computer bag and other items. Mahabir held on to his bag and was shot once in the abdomen.

The gunman then ran off with the bag, leaving him bleeding on the ground.

Following the shooting, which came after several armed robberies in the San Fernando shopping district, Southern Divisional Commander, Snr Supt Zamsheed Mohammed deployed Southern Division Task Force, San Fernando CID and the Rapid Response Unit to patrol High Street, Coffee Street, Cipero Street and their tributaries.

Up until yesterday, a strong police presence was seen on the streets and Southern Division police reported that there have been no reports of crime in the shopping district since the new measure was implemented.

The sprawling mansion at Raphael Road, Freeport which murdered mother Anita Mohammed struggled to keep after her husband died, will stand closed when her funeral takes place later this week.

A close relative said funeral arrangements are being scheduled either today or tomorrow once final arrangements are approved by her children Chelsea, 20 and Tristan, 19. 

"We plan to have the service at the Muslim home at Munroe Road and then to the Preysal cemetery for burial," the relative said. 

On her Facebook page, Chelsea wrote, "Angels have no thoughts of ever returning to you, would they be angry if I thought of joining you?"

Her profile picture read, "Sometimes a person prays with tears. When the words are missing, Allah knows our hearts."

Homicide officers yesterday spoke with relatives as they tried to piece together Mohammed's last activities before her demise.

An argument with two Spanish-speaking men, an impromptu trip to Chaguaramas and two mysterious phone calls are believed to be important clues to the murder.

Investigators believe that Mohammed was receiving money from criminal elements to maintain her house and to pay off debts which her husband left after he passed suddenly five years ago.

It took Mohammed four years of hard work to upkeep the house and to continue to give her children the life they were accustomed to. 

Mohammed went missing on December 20 and eight days after her disappearance, Chelsea vented on Facebook chastising TSTT for not releasing her mother's phone records.

She wrote, "TSTT could you please ......assist me in finding my mother? It's been 8 days since she’s been gone and I'm at my breaking point. THIS IS A MISSING PERSON. I made a report and I have proof of being her daughter, I even showed up with two officers of the AKU. What more do you need? Why do I now have to find lawyers to get her call log? Losing my father came as a shock and I lost him instantly. Losing my mother like this is even worse because I have no closure to this whole situation."

The remains of a woman with missing limbs were found off an oilfield road in Santa Flora but it was only on Tuesday that forensic analysis on the remains confirmed the body belonged to Mohammed.

Anyone with information on the death can contact Crimestoppers at 800-TIPS.

Kunti Deopersad’s husband Tilkee Gopaul has fallen into depression and relatives now fear for his safety after a recent incident.

In fact, distraught relatives are now calling on the National Family Services Division to provide counselling for Deopersad, Gopaul and their seven children, two of whom are still in school.

During an exclusive interview yesterday, Gopaul said he will always have a place in his life for his wife although she walked out on their marriage after faking her own kidnapping two months ago.

Speaking at his Oropouche South Trace, Barrackpore home yesterday, Gopaul, 60, said he has been unable to work or sleep since Mother’s Day, after he and Deopersad had a physical altercation. Gopaul said he could not fathom the treatment he got from Deopersad, whom he lived with for 23 years and in frustration he lashed out. Remorse later set in and he attempted something he now regrets.

“I was not thinking straight. I had a piece of poui and I give her a lash. Why is she treating me so? I never do nobody nothing. We used to live good. I struggle and build my house, I worked hard to provide for my family and last year I retired from the corporation. I used to still go out and work, cutting people grass and planting garden. She never want for anything, why she do this to me?” Gopaul said with sad eyes.

He said the shame of her betrayal had trapped him inside his own head and his own home. Saying he did not know where he went wrong, Gopaul said now that he was in the latter stages of his life he wanted to have peace.

“I can’t leave here to go anywhere, not even to walk down the road. My daughter had to leave her job in Princes Town because people were talking about Kunti. The children missing her. If I have to go anywhere, someone will drop me. It is not nice what we going through,” Gopaul said.

Recalling his latest ordeal, Gopaul said his son-in-law and one of his daughters prevented him from doing himself severe harm.

Gopaul said he last saw Deopersad in Princes Town on Tuesday.

“I didn’t see her but she called me out. I asked her when she coming back home and she said she will come back after she cools her head,” Gopaul said.

He added that his two younger daughters were facing ridicule in school and he was worried.

“One of them wrote exams yesterday and I could see the sadness on their faces. It not easy watching them grieve. I am glad I did not die because of them. I am sorry for what I did and I won’t do it again,” Gopaul said.

However, his 18-year-old daughter Radha said she was worried about Gopaul. She said she wanted both her parents to get counselling from the National Family Services Division. She too said she was confused by her mother’s behaviour, adding that her father was a good man who always provided for them.

But the man with whom Deopersad is now living with said yesterday that there were many issues which the public did not know, but said it was not his place to tell her story. He said Deopersad has been receiving counselling.

Several attempts were made to contact National Family Services at their hotline, but both numbers were not in service.

Attempts to reach Minister of Social Development Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn were also unsuccessful as she did not answer her cellular phone.

A 46-year-old aspiring social worker from Sangre Grande, who was seriously injured after being struck by a cricket ball during a class at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Open Campus, has received over $120,000 in compensation.

High Court Judge Ricky Rahim ordered the compensation for Vidya Jaglal on Tuesday, after ruling that the distance education institution was negligent in failing to provide a safe environment for students at its part-time facility at North Eastern College in Sangre Grande.

The case centered around an incident at the school compound on March 5, 2012. Jaglal, a typist clerk with the Ministry of Community Development, was attending a class for a certificate in social work when a ball travelled through the ventilation blocks of the classroom and struct her on her head.

Since then she has had to receive continuous treatment for chronic debilitating neck pain and has been left with a 20 per cent permanent partial disability.

UWI and the school challenged the lawsuit, alleging that Jaglal fabricated the story because her claim allegedly defied physics and logic based on the layout of the school compound.

However, Rahim conducted a comprehensive site visit during the trial of the case, where the cricket pitch and classroom were closely examined.

Stating that the evidence in the case was “clear as daylight” on Tuesday, Rahim ruled that Jaglal had successfully proven her claim.

Although he ruled that while there was no evidence of such an incident occurring before, he said it was a reasonably foreseeable consequence due to the close proximity of both areas.

He said: “Firstly, cricket was being played merely within 100 feet of the classroom with a clear line of sight to the large ventilation blocks...The defendants have given no evidence whatsoever as to the steps or measures they may have to put in place to secure the area in which cricket was being played so that the classroom essentially formed part of the open field as it were.”

He also dismissed claims by both the institution and school that neither had a duty of care towards Jaglal.

“The first defendant (UWI) has a duty to provide a safe environment for its students and the second defendant (school), in providing the classroom for use of the first defendant, likewise had a duty of care to provide a safe environment for the students,” Rahim said.

In his 45-page judgement, Rahim ruled that Jaglal was entitled to $60,000 in general damages for the pain and suffering she endured and a total of $72,293.60 in special damages.

The special damages represent the $26,653 in medical expenses, her loss of earnings (unpaid sick leave) as a result of continued pain ($39,340) and the money she expended in travelling to and from regular hospital visits since the incident ($6,300).

“Since the incident she has been unable to carry out basic household chores such as cooking, cleaning her home and playing with her children. It is now difficult for her to push the trolley in the grocery, as she experiences a lot of pain in her neck and head,” he said.

He also noted that since the incident she is required to wear a neck brace and to take muscle relaxants regularly.

Jaglal was represented by Douglas Bayley and Kavita Sarran. David Alexander and Dave de Peiza represented UWI, while Antionette Alleyne and Nisa Simmons represented the Office of the Attorney General, which appeared on the school’s behalf.

Despite heavy criticism from several quarters, Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) secretary general Sat Maharaj is standing his ground on its decision to deny On-the-Job Trainee Nafisah Nakhid entry to the Lakshmi Girls’ High School with her hijab on Monday. He said yesterday that they have a right to enjoyment of property under the Constitution and as a result also a right to determine how people dress when they go onto the compound.

But not so says attorney Fareed Scoon, who is advising Nakhid.

“A school is not a sacred space, but national space and you cannot impose your system or values on somebody who is utilising together with you what non-sacred space is,” Scoon said in response to Maharaj’s suggestion.

Both men have been speaking out on the issue involving Nakhid, who was given a choice when he turned up at the school on Monday morning dressed in a hijab. She was told at a meeting with the school’s principal, vice principal and dean, whom she said is also a Muslim, that she could stay but would need to remove the hijab, or she could leave. She chose the latter option, saying it was possibly the “worst experience” in her 23 years.

The action comes 23 years after Justice Margot Warner delivered a historic judgment 1995 ruling in favour of Summayah Mohammed, a Muslim schoolgirl who was banned from attending Holy Name Convent in Port-of-Spain wearing a hijab. Warner ruled then that Mohammed was entitled to attend a Catholic school wearing the hijab and she was eventually allowed to attend classes. That decision, which was not appealed, allowed Muslim girls to attend private and public schools without discrimination.

In his defence yesterday, Maharaj said, “The girl is not attached to the teaching staff, she came to learn to teach, but she wants to teach us how to dress, we said we have a dress code.”

Nakhid, who graduated with Honours from the University of the West Indies in the field of Mechanical Engineering, was sent to the school to work alongside a teacher.

There is nothing in the Concordat entered into with denominational schools in 1960 which speaks to a dress code. But Maharaj said it was the teachers of the school, which includes Muslims, Presbyterians and Afro-Trinidadians, “who put together the dress code and we approved it.”

The Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago sets out fundamentals rights and freedoms of citizens, with sections 4 and 5 speaking to rights which exist without discrimination by reason of race, origin, colour, religion or sex. It also speaks to the right of an individual to among other things enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived of these except by the due process of law.

But Scoon said although Lakshmi Girls share a compound with the SDMS, “it is a public institution. It is funded with public funds, its teachers are paid by the public and it cannot legally or morally debar someone wearing a hijab.” He advised Maharaj to review the policies of the school, saying “they are inconsistent with the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and from what I understand with true Hinduism.”

Maharaj reiterated that Lakshmi Girls was “doing a favour by saying come and we will teach you how to teach”.

But Scoon countered, “I don’t think it is a one-sided bargain. The school benefits from her experience, she is a graduate who went to give a service, not to be trained, but she is delivering deliverables that the school requires.”

Nakhid said the school requested someone with a science background and the OJT officer with whom she had the interview “called the principal and said I have a background in mechanical engineering and the principal said send her.” She said although the principal was told her name she never asked any questions about whether she wore a hijab. She said the principal admitted in their conversation on Monday that although she was given her name, she could not tell what religion Nakhid was from her name.

Nakhid said she was “traumatised” by the incident.

“I was so shocked. How can you ask a practising Muslim to remove a hijab for a job? Would you ask a nun to remove a habit for a job?” she asked.

Scoon said the Maha Sabha should do the proper thing and “apologise.

“If they do not apologise they probably will be visited with some kind of sanction by the Equal Opportunities Commission, which is the authority to deal with this on the basis of race discrimination religion or otherwise,” Scoon said.