Barbados Underground

225 comments

• David

  April 21, 2015 6:18 AM

  

  @Dee

  If we may refer to the modus of the Speaker Michael Carrington affair no laws are being broken so what is the issue. In other words ‘wrong’ is defined in legal terms only.

  JAs

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• Lemuel

  April 21, 2015 6:46 AM

  

  Igrunt, you have truly lived up to you false name here, but in reality it may be the best term which embraces ALL of your virtues!!!

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• Bush Tea

  April 21, 2015 6:48 AM

  

  @ Dee ingrunt Word
  You are also forgetting that this Barbados you talking bout….
  …decency and decorum?
  …ethical behaviours?
  …conflict of interests?

  ……with lawyers? …bout here? …you serious?
  Boss, it is all about the “lovely payday”.
  How long ago did Bushie assert that you could NOT find 5 practicing lawyers in Barbados, to whom the qualities you seek to ascribe can be applied…?

  Pilly is from a good stock 🙂 but was he not president of the “den of iniquity”? …did he change/expose anything? …or just learn the tricks of the trade…?
  Now if we had a real CJ …Bushie would have expected a quiet word to all concerned that such collusion would not be tolerated….. but this is Barbados boss….. bowls run things…..

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• Lemuel

  April 21, 2015 7:06 AM

  

  Given what I am seeing with this case, I believe it is time to take the prosecution of the accused out of the hands of the Police department. Would you believe how Gittens was brought to court and the widow of the man he killed could not even come in the court!!! And then some members of the police force sobbing for Gittens. But his ASS on remand!!!

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• Dee Ingrunt Word

  April 21, 2015 8:00 AM

  

  Lemuel, I don’t know if you are being facetious with your remarks that I “have truly lived up to [my] false name here” but I’ll assume that you do imagine I am as ‘ingrunt’ as my name implies if you are referring to my comments re Pilgrim.

  I can also assume that you are either a lawyer or a close friend of the attorney mentioned in my post.

  All good.

  But, were I Pilly’s friend I would tell him exactly the same thing I wrote. Not that he would pay attention to me then or now here on BU.

  Taking both cases is not copacetic…it simply isn’t!

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• Gabriel

  April 21, 2015 8:01 AM

  

  Some proper points being made here.This Pilgrim Chambers representation of both sides of the fence is to be regretted.Impressions matter.One assumes that case management meetings would be the norm,strategizing,weighing the merits,demerits of evidence,counter arguments,recommended case research etc would all play out in the conference room of the Pilgrim chambers.A quiet word would be in order but “there is no law against it”is the new mantra.

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• David

  April 21, 2015 8:17 AM

  

  He was surrounded by a heavyweight team of colleagues that is for sure. Why?

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• Hants

  April 21, 2015 8:27 AM

  

  PILGRIM is correct. That there is no conflict of interest.

  The accused and the family retained Lawyers of their own choosing and if they are comfortable with it who are we to complain.

  @ Bushie I selling a piece a land about a mile west of the Deep water Harbour. You interested? rotflmrao.

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• Hants

  April 21, 2015 8:31 AM

  

  David wrote “He was surrounded by a heavyweight team of colleagues.”

  That is typical in policing. It happens here in Canada.

  He is innocent until proven guilty and his brethren will support him.

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• Colonel Buggy

  April 21, 2015 4:33 PM

  

  Hants April 21, 2015 at 8:27 AM #
  There was a time when three persons from the same household were involved in the court system. A QC/ Chief Justice, a Judge and a Lawyer. I cannot recall ever hearing concerns raised about conflict of interests.

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• ac

  April 21, 2015 4:55 PM

  

  Nation Editor Charged in Burglary

  

  Managing editor, Timothy McDonald Slinger, 62, of Bartletts Tenantry Road, Sargeant Village, Christ Church, along with 27 year-old Don Winfield Mayers of Richmond Gap, St Michael have been charged with the offence of burglary which occured at De Diva Hype Bar.

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• millertheanunnaki

  April 21, 2015 5:41 PM

  

  @ ac April 21, 2015 at 4:55 PM

  Ac. when are we going to see a similar picture of Leroy Parris and Terrence Thornhill charged with fraud perpetrated against the thousands of CLICO policyholders?
  What could a verbal gunslinger of a journalist be doing stealing from a bar of rum and imported drinks?

  We are most surprised of this move since he is against MAM. Maybe he could get OSA to use his now well-dressed connections with Dictator Fumble to arrange for the case to be dropped.
  Who will be next on the hit list in this concerted effort to ‘silence’ critics of this administration?
  Peter W better watch himself. He might just be charged for engaging in an act of buggery with the ‘pole’ of your closet friend Bushie.

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• Hants

  April 21, 2015 5:58 PM

  

  “For the record, we offer our unqualified support to the high command and rank and file of the Royal Barbados Police Force”

  mmmmmmmmmm!

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• ac

  April 21, 2015 6:07 PM

  

  miller keep waiting,,but i never knew that PM stuart owned a restaurant , was it not the restaurant owner that filed the charges how did u come to the presumption that this govt had anything to do with this mans arrest

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• Exclaimer

  April 21, 2015 6:30 PM

  

  I certainly will not be shedding any tears for this thug. His neighbours must be relieved that he has finally been removed from their neighbourhood.

  I read about the extraordinary events from today’s court proceedings and was amazed.Today’s photo of Mr Gitten’s surrounded by his entourage made him look like a rock star!

  Quite frankly, one only needs to look at the published photos of this man to make an objective judgement of where his soul and heart belongs.

  Let us pray for the sake of our country that justice will be served.

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• millertheanunnaki

  April 21, 2015 6:43 PM

  

  @ ac April 21, 2015 at 6:07 PM
  The same way we know Leroy Parris remains untouchable and the shameless crook Carry-away-a-ton can continue to sit in the Speaker’s chair obstructing the report from the Committee of Privileges for the dangerous lying parliamentarians (dlp).

  We are thinking about the Nation newspaper management case before the court and the lightning fast move to ‘silence’ Omar Watson.

  We are sure that your colleague BLPNationNewspaper will be glad to see the turn of events with Slinger.
  Who is next? Clyde Mascoll using the evidence from the forensic audit into the Hardwood Housing fraud? It certainly can’t be OSA for the alleged millions stolen in kickbacks? Remember the Pegasus Hotel tape and the FBI report? What about that $75,000 cheque? Isn’t that enough evidence to convict dear old OSA on a charge of bribery and corruption or even money laundering?

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• ac

  April 21, 2015 7:41 PM

  

  O.kmiller blame all u want,, but if the accused is charged with theft by the restaurant owner do not see how u being another one of them perfectionist foot soldiers can conclude that the govt had anything to do with this problem ,,any how not surprising hearing that wicked accusation coming from u. as it is now mottley seems to have disappeared from the landscape and all now that is left are the few measly mout blackbirds from the blp party the shite all over bu hallways every day ,,like u and prodigal,,

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• Sanky

  April 21, 2015 10:34 PM

  

  https://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/will-barbados-hang-police-constable-everton-gittens/

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• Hal Austin

  February 15, 2021 7:28 AM

  

  It is now nearly six years since Officer Gittens shot and killed his neighbour. When is he going to face the courts?
  While we are at it, how is the investigation in to the death of Ezra Moseley going? Has the driver of the vehicle been questioned under caution by investigating officers?
  By the way, what about the Indian woman who claimed she was kidnapped and taken to an ATM by a black man? How is that investigation going?
  Still waiting to hear the outcome of the drug smuggling in which Charles Herbert was on board the company schooner. I am sure it is in good hands.

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• 555dubstreet

  February 15, 2021 7:41 AM

  

  Medley – Summertime, Motherless Child, Mahalia Jackson
  #BLACKLIVESMATTER
  Easy Squeeze (Make No Riot)
  9 / 149

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• David

  December 22, 2021 4:34 AM

  

  Lawman cleared of charges

  by HEATHER-LYNN EVANSON
  heatherlynevanson@nationnews.com

  LAWMAN EVERTON RANDOLPH GITTENS cut a lonely figure when he turned up for his afternoon hearing in the Supreme Court Complex yesterday.
  Within 20 minutes he was back out, a free man, after Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant told him she was dismissing his charges, including that of murdering Selwyn “Blues” Knight, because the prosecution’s evidence in “the matter of public interest” had not reached the standard expected of a prima facie case.
  Gittens, now 50, of Lot 1, Dash Gap, Bank Hall, St Michael, had been charged with murdering Knight on March 15, 2015.
  He was also accused of recklessly engaging in conduct which placed Knight’s son, Junior, in danger of death or serious bodily harm, as well as wounding Junior Knight with intent, all on the same date. Yesterday, a thinner Gittens, clad in a lilac long-sleeved dress shirt with a contrasting paisley tie and with his hair now longer and in plaits, was almost an hour late for the 1:30 p.m. final Magistrates’ Court hearing of the matter.
  His lonely appearance was a far cry from his initial court appearance six years ago when, surrounded and supported by colleagues, he was escorted into the District “A” Magistrates’ Court to face the three charges.
  Knight’s widow Marleen was also absent but she had informed the court she could not attend because son Junior, who usually ferried her to the hearings, was working late. She, however, gave the court the go-ahead with the understanding that she would be informed about its decision.
  Magistrate Cuffy-Sargeant, who delivered her decision in the No. 5A Supreme Court, noted there had been much discussion in the public domain about the events that occurred before Gittens came upon the Knights.
  “It is important to note that when [Gittens] approached [the Knights] he knew two things – what his girlfriend told him and what he himself saw when he looked through his window and when he went outside,” the magistrate said.
  “The courts must be careful in the exercise of judicial authority not to be bogged down by public discourse in rendering a decision. It is the responsibility of the magistrate to conduct the required research and apply the law to the facts, always bearing in mind that justice must be rendered without fear or favour,” she stressed.
  “Therefore, once a decision has been given and, in the event the decision goes against the accused, only then is public opinion in relation to the accused character needed.”
  She said based on the evidence before the court, the question was whether all the essential ingredients had been satisfied.
  “Where the definition of a statutory offence or an offence at common law, for example, murder, includes a particular requirement or requirements as to the state of mind of the offender, there is, as a general rule, no need to import any additional such requirements.
  “Where the prosecution failed to prove even one of the ingredients, the case must fail,” she said.
  “To make a man liable to imprisonment for an offence which he does not know that he is committing and is unable to prevent is repugnant to the ordinary man’s conception of justice and brings the law into contempt,” the magistrate declared.
  It was for that reason, the magistrate went on to say, that she found all three charges could
  not be sustained.
  She then told Gittens he was free to go.
  He did not respond to requests for a comment.
  In recapping the evidence, which had been led by prosecutor Assistant Superintendent Trevor Blackman, the magistrate referred to the testimony of Gittens’ girlfriend who said she was awakened by a commotion in the neighbourhood and she, in turn, woke him. Gittens, in his evidence in the preliminary enquiry, said when he investigated he saw two men pinning another man on the ground.
  The two men were the Knights while the person on the ground was later identified as Jamal Skeete. The evidence suggested Selwyn Knight was armed with a “very long” knife while Junior Knight had a bottle.
  Skeete’s evidence was that Selwyn Knight stabbed at him but he managed to evade the danger.
  Gittens’ evidence was that he got his licensed firearm, announced his presence and ordered Selwyn Knight to drop his weapon. He then fired in the Knights’ direction, hitting both of them.
  That version of the evidence, said the magistrate, was supported by other witnesses.

  Source: Nation

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• David

  December 22, 2021 4:34 AM

  

  Family of slain man in ‘tricky legal position’

  THE FAMILY of the late Selwyn “Blues” Knight is in a tricky legal position, says their parliamentary representative Arthur Holder, who is also a veteran attorney.
  He was speaking to the media yesterday after visiting Knight’s widow Marleen and the family at their Bank Hall, St Michael home, moments after it was learnt that the policeman charged with the shooting death of her husband six years ago had been freed by the court.
  On March 15, 2015, Constable Everton Randolph Gittens, now 50, of Lot 1, Dash Gap, Bank Hall, was accused of murdering Knight, of Queen Mary Road, also Bank Hall; recklessly engaging in conduct which placed Knight’s son Junior Knight in danger of death or serious bodily harm, and wounding Junior Knight with intent.
  However, Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant ruled yesterday that the prosecution had not made out a prima facie case in relation to any of the matters; that is, it failed to produce sufficient evidence for the matter to be heard in the High Court.
  There was an air of disbelief in the Bank Hall community after news spread of the lawman being exonerated.
  Knight declined to speak to the media, with someone in the household saying she was too distraught on hearing the outcome.
  In an interview with the WEEKEND NATION in August last year, she had expressed frustration at repeated court visits over the years only to find the case going nowhere.
  However, she vowed never to give up the fight for justice for her husband, who was gunned down yards from his home after intercepting a burglar, and her son Junior, who was also shot multiple times on that fateful day.
  “I want people to know that Selwyn’s life matters. My main agenda is to seek justice for my husband and my son. They are trying to wear me down, but I won’t give up. They feel I’m going to die before this case is settled, but what they don’t know is that I’m willing to fight this to the death,” she said.
  Bullets in his body
  “I’m just a lowly newspaper vendor. In this pond, I’m like a thousand. People feel I will be crushed, but this thousand will fight to the bitter end . . . . We have to continue to seek justice. My son Junior still has two bullets in his body – one which hit him in the buttocks has scattered and there is still one stuck in his neck. I won’t forget about this. I won’t ever give up the fight,” she added then.
  Holder said he showed up yesterday to lend support and also explain the matter.
  “As the MP, I just wanted to offer my support as well as to try to explain the position they are in. Having heard the decision made by the magistrate, I thought it was prudent
  to explain the process. I told her given the fact the court ruled there was no case to answer, the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] would now have to appeal that decision,” he said.
  Holder added the DPP had a week to file a notice of appeal but the tricky part was the fact the family had also filed a civil suit against the Attorney General.
  “I explained the possible dilemma she may have been placed in . . . and it is an interesting place to be in relation to the law and for justice to be seen for Ms Knight.
  “The irony of it all is that the DPP would have to appeal the magistrate’s decision while Government was also being sued, [which would mean they would be giving validity to the civil suit].”
  He said Knight felt hurt to know that after six years, the case had been dismissed before going to a judge and jury. However, he said he told her not to let it get her down as there was still a process of law to be followed and he would be following the matter closely.
  Junior Knight was also shot during the incident six years ago. He stopped by the house briefly but when asked his thoughts, he would only say: “What is there to say?”
  (CA)

  Source: Nation

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• TheOGazerts

  December 22, 2021 9:47 AM

  

  I found this to be a very interesting topic. I do not know how to categorized this decision (just or unjust) . I am hoping that others more knowledgeable than I am (that means everyone) on this matter, can comment on the post.

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• David

  December 23, 2021 4:20 AM

  

  Knight’s widow moving on after verdict

  by MARIA BRADSHAW mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

  A BURDEN HAS BEEN lifted, and widow Marlene Knight is moving on with her life.
  Hours after hearing the news that policeman Everton Gittens had had the charges of murdering her husband, Selwyn “Blues” Knight, and wounding her son, Junior dismissed, Knight said she was at peace with the decision.
  On Tuesday evening, Knight, who for the past six years had publicly lamented the slow pace of the preliminary enquiry into her husband’s shooting death, received the news from “a woman” that Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant had dismissed the charges against the suspended cop, stating that the evidence had not reached the standard expected of a prima facie case.
  Relaxing
  When a DAILY NATION team visited her Bank Hall, St Michael home yesterday morning she was relaxing in her dining room while her son was busy outside painting the house.
  Of the case, she said: “It was me and my son – the sheep among the wolves. Had we not gone into that there, we would not know how the system is. It is all right for people to talk and say the system this and the system the next, but you have to go into it to know how the system does really work . . . .”
  Knight explained that on Tuesday she received a telephone call from prosecutor Station Sergeant Trevor Blackman informing her that a decision would be rendered in the case.
  “He called and told me that I had to be in court. I said, ‘I don’t know anything about that’ and he said he called me three days ago,” Knight said, pointing out that she always kept her cell phone and landline close by because she had to use a cane to walk and she never received the call.
  Burning pain
  “I told him my son at work and I can’t walk too well, so whatever it is relay to me after,” she said, quickly adding that up to that time no one from the court had contacted her to inform her about the decision.
  She said for the past few days she had a burning pain in her stomach.
  “I was having this pain in my gut and I told my son I can’t understand I got this pain in the pit of my belly and it just hurting me . . . . When the woman told me yesterday that Gittens was set free, the pain leave my guts, it leave my belly and I felt free because it is out of my hands.
  “I tried my best. I can’t fight with the law. If [Magistrate] Cuffy-Sargeant say she ain’t see enough evidence, well all at her; if the prosecution ain’t present the proper case – all at them . . . . My burden lifted,” she added. Knight credited her close friend Marcia Belgrave for counselling her throughout the years.
  “I sleep comfortable last night . . . . I got up at my usual time and send out my morning greetings as accustomed and my friend from St Peter, Marcia, that does call me every morning at 6 a.m., the first person that I hear every morning, I heard her. Had not for Marcia calling me every day, it is a relief and a comfort . . . .”
  However, tears came to her eyes as she spoke about her son, who was injured when Gittens fired his licensed firearm as he and his father fought with a man who had broken into their house. “I don’t want to cry,” she said, as she choked back the tears. “My husband gone; I can’t bring he back but my son still got two bullets in him and one lodge in he neck. Where is the justice for him?”
  Remaining humble
  As to the civil case, Knight said she intended to remain humble “and whatever they decide to do it all
  at them.” Yet, while she holds on to the good memories of the life she and her husband were able to build before he was killed, she is still haunted by the events of March 15, 2015, when she sent him home for a document while she waited at the end of their gap for him to return.
  It was then that a neighbour ran to her and reported that a burglar had broken into her home and her husband and son had fought with him and Gittens who lived nearby had intervened, fired shots and killed her husband and wounded her son.
  “My husband dead and Gittens walk free but that is how the cookie does crumble sometimes but I’ve learned a lot . . . and one thing I would advise the young people [to do is to] stay out the court; and to the mothers that got their sons, talk to them, keep them out the court . . . ,” the 65-yearold matriarch said.
  Meanwhile, her son said he only heard the news when he got home from work on Tuesday evening but he noted that he had already prepared himself “for the worst because yuh dealing with the court system”.
  “So after I see all of these years gone by and they sending back the case and sending back the case, I tell my mother, well, you see how they does operate already, so prepare for the worst. The hardest thing is that we here,” he said.
  While noting that the news had come four days before Christmas Day, Junior said it would in no way put a damper on their celebrations.

  Source: Nation

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• Donna

  December 23, 2021 6:44 PM

  

  Well, well! This is the first time I am reading the details of this case.

  It is a good thing that I am not easily swayed by the people on this site who NEVER wait for the evidence before flying off their mouths.

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