A voice in the wilderness: Mother of dead cop wants to be heard
This composite photo shows Ms. Ambrose and and her now dead son, Police Lance Corporal Don-Carlos Alleyne
Six months and a few days after losing her eldest son who succumbed to injuries he reportedly sustained during a beating at the hands of a Police Sergeant stationed at the Special Constabulary Lance Corporal dies days after fight with police sergeant Joycelyn Ambrose 45, is now calling on President David Granger to look into the matter.
“I just can’t understand if this a dog puppy that was just killed by the roadside and just leave there, nobody is saying anything to me, is a set of run around and push around and you cannot meet these people who can tell you what is happening with my son’s investigation, they are not making themselves available, how can this be?” the distraught mother explained
Police Lance Corporal Don-Carlos Alleyne, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital back in May of this year after he checked himself into the Emergency Ward. He died while at the hospital and the Guyana Police Force was not aware of his death until days after when they realised that he did not show up for work.
The policeman visited the hospital after he was involved in an altercation with a police sergeant at the Special Constabulary Headquarters at Princess Street and it was reported that the sergeant deal the man some cuffs, kicks and lashes with a wood before placing him under close arrest and denied him the right to seek medical attention.
His mother is now calling on president David Granger to cause the police and every other agency concerned, to do their work so that she and her other children can have the justice they need for the death of her eldest son.
I can’t understand now that he dead oh gosh man, no body can’t say nothing?, nothing, nothing nothing nothing at all? this hay suh nan man.. I ain’t think the president would agree with this, you understand me? Maybe it ain’t highlighted to him properly but I need it to be highlighted to him now straight, straight, straight now. I need this to be highlighted to the president you understand me leh he talk to me or something” Jocelyn passionately pleaded
She said that sometime back she met with Public health Minister Volda Lawrence in an interior location where she raised her concerns and the minister caused a letter to be written to the Commissioner of Police but there was no response to that latter. Another letter was then dispatched to the Police Commissioner, this time by hand but again, nothing…according to the women. She stated that she also met with Minister of Youth Affairs Simona Broomes recently.
“Like me ain’t want to see the Commissioner of Police no more concerning this story here suh because is far gone, I can’t see people treating people like this, real thing” Ambrose told BIG Smith Crime Watch during an interview at the Nigh Shelter on Tuesday.
Ms. Ambrose said that the last person she met at the level of the Guyana Police Force was the Welfare Officer and since then, no other contact was made with her, she believes that the force is disinterested in solving the death of her son whose postmortem report stated that he died from a blunt trauma to the head and internal bleeding.
“This thing ain’t getting nowhere and I need the president to know and understand the feelings of me because to me, is only he could work out something for me because I ain’t really know what going on with the police force, I think it would ah be safe for meh son to join the police but clearly it was not” stated the woman.
The police sergeant who was placed under close arrest following the death of the lance corporal was placed on open arrest days after the death of the rank and has since been showing for duty and carrying out police functions.
“I ain’t even see the person, his relatives did not even come and say man we sorry about what happened the commissioner himself did not even say sorry, my son was your rank, it is there he was working he did not even meet with me to say well mam this is the procedure to go about this or that or nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing” BIG Smith Crime Watch was told by the woman.
She questioned if it had been her son who had injured or kill someone, if the police force would have treated him with the alleged preferential treatment the sergeant or if he would have been treated like common criminal.
Big Smith was told back in May that the police sergeant has a relative who is in an influential position and that those in the force who are likely to give statements against the sergeant were reportedly reluctant to do because of how adverse the ending could be for them, especially as it relates to their upward mobility in the force. Based on the comments made by Ms. Ambrose on Tuesday, she too seems to have been fed this information or something close to it.
“The witnesses them, they send them away threatened them, this is what they own people in the police force are saying to me, I can’t understand this it’s not a thief man or somebody that you just beat and left there it’s a police like yourself it’s your colleague, why this had to reach to this and then no justice for me, no, this is unfair”
The mother of the dead policeman said that the incident has affected her children and herself and right now she would never encourage anyone to join the Guyana Police Force. She said that she believes that the absence of an interaction between herself and the administration of the force is now having a negative and psychological effect on her for which she is now receiving support.
“Right now is at the Night Shelter I am at as you can see, I am here getting some counselling this is what is keeping me up for now and preventing me from running mad from this situation but this situation is poor, poor, poor” she broke down and exclaimed.
