Quindon Bacchus killing: 2 Lance Corporals, Sergeant remanded to prison

(In photo: Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega, Lance Corporal Thurston Simon & Sergeant Dameion Mc Lennon)

Police Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega was remanded to prison on a murder charge on Tuesday in relation to the shooting death of a Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD) man, Quindon Bacchus.

His colleagues, Lance Corporal Thurston Simon and Sergeant Dameion McLennon were also remanded to prison after they each denied a charge of obstructing the course of justice.

They appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. The case against DeNobrega is fixed for July 19 and is transferred to Cove and John Magistrate’s Court while the cases against Simon and Mc Lennon are fixed for July 12, at Georgetown Magistrate Court. During his address to the court, the prosecutor submitted that there was no evidence to support the Cops’ story of Bacchus opening fire on them during a sting operation on June 10.

Dead: Quindon Bacchus

The two cops charged with obstructing the course of justice are accused of giving Police investigators false statements in relation to what transpired on the day in question. On Sunday, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) announced that it had completed its probe into the fatal shooting and had forwarded a file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), recommending charges for the three Policemen.

The next day, the DPP’s Office said it had advised the Police to proceed with the institution of charges against the ranks.

Police Headquarters had said that Bacchus, 23, a father of one, was shot dead while in the process of reportedly attempting to sell a gun to Lance Corporal De Nobrega, who was dressed in plain clothes.

The Police in their statement also noted that Bacchus reportedly shot at the Policeman who returned fire.

Shortly after the killing, a video surfaced, showing that it was the Police rank who shot at Bacchus. Persons have since come forward and claimed that Bacchus and the Policeman were known to each other and that the two had a misunderstanding over a woman.

The shooting death of Bacchus has been condemned by a wide cross-section of society and resulted in protest actions on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

The most recent protest turned violent, with persons beating and robbing vendors at the Mon Repos Market, looting their stalls, blocking the roadway and burning vehicles, tyres and piles of wood. During the protest, a psychiatric patient from Golden Grove, ECD threatened to kill President Dr. Irfaan Ali and was later arrested.