By Joel Julien
January 07, 2014 – trinidadexpress.com
SIX out of every ten people murdered last year were involved in “serious criminal activities”, National Security Minister Gary Griffith has said.
Griffith said because the majority of murders committed in this country for 2013 was criminals killing criminals it was hard for the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to protect them.
Continue reading Gary: Criminals killing criminals
By Alexander Bruzual
December 03, 2013 – newsday.co.tt
THE SLAUGHTER of the innocent continues.
For the third time in less than three weeks evidence has surfaced that a child has been beaten to death. The latest innocent baby to lose his life is three-year-old Jabari Hernandez of Carmichael Village, Coryal, East Trinidad.
Young Jabari died on Saturday afternoon after he was reportedly seen vomiting at his home. At the time, it was believed the child may have died from injuries sustained in a fall he reportedly suffered at home a week prior to his death.
Continue reading BABY BEATEN TO DEATH
By Raffique Shah
November 30, 2013
In the wake of the gruesome discovery of six-year-old Keyana Cumberbatch’s decomposing corpse last week, there are deafening cries for swift justice for the beast who murdered the child.
One can understand why the average citizen would be outraged over this crime, and similar savagery against other children, older people and women.
Continue reading Prisoners of Birth 2
By Alexander Bruzual
November 29, 2013 – newsday.co.tt
THREE days of prayerful vigil ended in tears and anguish for a mother of three yesterday afternoon after she made the horrific discovery of the body of her eldest daughter which was stuffed at the bottom of a shipping barrel in the bedroom of their Maloney apartment home.
Screams of anguish and enraged shouts filled the air around Building Four when news spread that Keyana Cumberbatch’s body had been found.
Police sources last night said Keyana may have been killed last Monday — the day she went missing — and had been stuffed in the barrel for the past three days.
Continue reading KEYANA IS DEAD
By Raffique Shah
November 23, 2013
Avid readers of fiction, more so Jeffrey Archer fans, will immediately note that I stole this headline from one of the writer’s successful novels, A Prisoner of Birth. I did this deliberately, for several reasons.
For the uninitiated, Lord Archer is a Conservative peer whose best-selling novels have topped 150 million copies. He also served a four-year jail sentence for perjury, so he knows about prisons and imprisonment inside out, in a manner of speaking. In fact, he spent some of his jail time in the high-security Belmarsh Prison located in London.
Continue reading Prisoners of Birth
By Alexander Bruzual
November 21, 2013 – newsday.co.tt
THE search for a two-year-old baby boy ended in tragedy yesterday afternoon after his body was found inside a cesspit located at the back of the child’s father’s Maracas/St Joseph home.
At about 1.15 pm yesterday police officers from the St Joseph CID and the Maracas Police Station, led by Sergeant Rene Katwaroo, made their way to the home of Allan Thomas, located along Santa Rita Trace, Lluengo Village, Maracas/St Joseph. The officers were responding to a report made by Thomas on Tuesday night, in which he alleged that his son, Jacob Munroe, two, had been kidnapped.
Continue reading BABY DEAD IN CESSPIT
By Jada Loutoo
September 17, 2013 – newsday.co.tt
AS some regional nations and parts of North and Latin America move towards decriminalising the consumption and possession of marijuana, Chief Justice Ivor Archie has began the ball rolling for similar considerations, in some capacity, for Trinidad and Tobago.
Continue reading Treat Ganja Use Differently
By Raffique Shah
August 31, 2013
I choose to reflect on the nation’s Independence anniversary through the prism of a glass half-full rather than half-empty. We endure so many negatives in this country—our daily dosage of murder, lawlessness from top to bottom, pillage of the national purse—that if we did not know how to laugh in the face of adversity, we would implode from cerebral constipation.
Continue reading Give thanks, Trini
By Raffique Shah
August 24, 2013
Not since late Commissioner of Police Jules Bernard publicly declared, “I’m a toothless bulldog!” have I heard so many outlandish statements coming from the mouths of senior officers of the Police Service.
“Criticism hurts,” screams Acting CoP Stephen Williams. Yet, Williams and his most senior officers say and do the most ludicrous things, inviting not just criticism, but oftentimes, bellyfuls of laughter.
Continue reading Comic cops
By Raffique Shah
August 17, 2013
The ten leading stories in last Friday’s online Express related to Jehue Gordon’s golden performance at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow. While that was a welcome respite from the daily fare of murder and mayhem, it told a sad story of just how starved this country is for good news.
Continue reading Plea for Gordon