A Police Inspector was today sentenced to prison for seven days for unlawfully insulting a magistrate after he asked her to “address [him] with respect”.
It is said that Inspector Prem Narine unlawfully insulted Magistrate Rondel Weever of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, thereby being guilty of misconduct before the court.
The Inspector was at the time presenting evidence in a case involving known conman Mohamed Ali who was charged for obtaining $2.1M worth in phone credit by falsely pretending to be Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence.
The Guyana Standard has been informed that Magistrate Weever said that the cop was being disrespectful when he asked that she address him with respect.
Based on information received from someone who was present in the courtroom, the Inspector, while giving his evidence, asked to have a look at his statement, to which the magistrate agreed. The policeman then asked to see his statement for a second time.
This second request reportedly angered the prisoner, who then began making a lot of noise in the courtroom. This news agency was told that the magistrate then shouted at the inmate to calm down. In the same breath, she reportedly turned to the rank and shouted at him too, telling him that she cannot show him the statement.
This news agency has verified that it is not prohibited for someone to ask a magistrate to see their statement while they are on the witness stand.
The magistrate then chased the cop out of the witness box. This reportedly caused the policeman to ask the magistrate to speak to him with respect.
The Guyana Standard has been told that the cop’s statement angered the magistrate who prepared a warrant for him to be sent to prison for seven days.
He will spend the next week in the Camp Street Prison.
