Witness tells Coroner:
'Nobody drowns quietly'

By FRANCIS JOSEPH

TERRANCE MC CLEAN, who underwent lifeguard training, said on Friday that if Akiel Chambers had slipped into the pool at 23 Balata Terrace, Haleland Park, Maraval, there would have been a commotion from the other children. “Nobody drowns quietly," Mc Clean told the court. "Anybody getting into difficulty in the pool would struggle to survive." Mc Clean was certain that Akiel was never in the water during the birthday party for Carrie James on May 23, 1998. Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls, presiding as Coroner in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrates' Court, is conducting an inquest to determine the circumstances surrounding Akiel's death. Hearing resumes on October 28. Desmond Allum SC, Rajiv Persad, and Kenneth O'Brien are looking after the interest of the Chambers' family, while Sgt Kenneth Cordner is the court prosecutor.

Mc Clean, who lives at Prizgar Lands, Laventille, said he went with his stepson to the party at Haleland Park. His stepson attended Blackman's Private School with Akiel and Carrie James. He admitted seeing Akiel walking around the pool chatting during the party. He recalled that the party hostess Annelore James came and asked him and Trevor Craigwell if they wanted anything to eat. She later brought lunch for them. Sometime later, Mc Clean said Mrs James came out with a cake to cut. But he could not say where Akiel was at the time. Mc Clean said he was looking after the children in the pool. He was then asked by the Coroner if he had experience as a life guard. He said he took a life guard course, but did not complete it. "I was concentrating on the children in the pool. I never saw Akiel in the pool. They stuck the cake, singing happy birthday. Mrs James gave Mc Craigwell a camera to take pictures."

Mc Clean said there were other persons in the kitchen besides Mrs James. He could not remember who was in the kitchen, but he recalled seeing another parent Patrick Young there. He said Young was getting ready to leave because he had a death in his family, and that he needed to go home. Mc Clean said Young left sometime after 5.30 pm. "I remember when he was ready to leave, one of his children was lagging behind and he had to come back and get him." Mc Clean said when he was ready to leave, he noticed that a basketball game was in progress on the television set in the kitchen. He sat down there and made himself comfortable for the game. He asked Craigwell to supervise the children who were in the pool. By that time, most of the children were ready to leave. Mc Clean said while he was watching the basketball game, Akiel's aunt Valerie Pascall arrived. He said he knew Pascall from before because he used to deliver mail to her home at 80-83 Henry Street, Port-of-Spain.

"When she saw me, we greeted each other. She asked Mrs James for Akiel. Mrs James called out for someone to go and get Akiel. They thought he was in the computer room, but he wasn't there. Mrs James called Carrie and some other children to go and find Akiel. The children came back and said they did not find him. It was 6.12 pm. I looked at my watch because I knew that a taxi was waiting for Valerie Pascall. "One of the children said that he saw Akiel next door. Mrs James instructed that they go and see if Akiel was next door. He was not there. I can't recall who said that." Mc Clean said Mrs James found Akiel's clothes and shoes on a chair. Pascall, according to the witness, wanted to know why Akiel's clothes were on the chair as he was not allowed to bathe in the pool. "By that time, there were different stories about where Akiel was. One theory was that he left in a car, another that he was in the computer room, and that he was next door. I stood around, I wanted to find out where he was. Valerie Pascall called her home to see if Akiel had gone home, but there was no answer," said Mc Clean.

Mc Clean remembered that Craigwell was around. He left to drop his children home, promising to return. "I asked him how long it would take him to come back. I can't remember if he answered me. I waited until 7.30 pm when Mr James arrived and went inside. I took a walk out by the pool just to make a check. "I looked in the shallow side which was clear. I walked to the deep end, I saw nothing in the pool. The area around the pool was well lit. There was a slight shadow from the diving board, that was all."

CORONER: "Did you think you should have gone into the pool to see, to satisfy yourself, knowing that a boy was missing?"

WITNESS: "At that time, I did not think so. Because, the boy wasn't suppose to bathe. If he slipped into the pool, there would have been a commotion from the other children. Nobody drowns quietly. Anybody getting into difficulty would struggle to survive. I walked around the bar area and after seeing no one, I headed back to the kitchen." Questioned by Sgt Cordner, Mc Clean said he had known Pascall for two years before that day. But he only met Akiel when he was introduced by Craigwell. He did not know that Young's son had lent Akiel a bathing trunks.

Mc Clean said he did not know Young or Craigwell before that day. Mc Clean told Allum that, although he did not carry out a thorough search, he was satisfied there was no body in that pool when he left Haleland Park.

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