By FRANCIS JOSEPH
A police officer who was ordered freed on Sunday on a habeas corpus application, has been charged with misbehaviour in public office.
The judge granted an order to release the police officer on pre-charge bail. An appeal was immediately filed on behalf of the Commissioner of Police at the Court of Appeal challenging the Order of the High Court.
The officer was subsequently charged for the offence of Misbehaviour in Public Office, on the advice of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The officer was charged on September 21 and subsequently granted bail by a Justice of the Peace.
No date has been given for the hearing of the appeal by the Commissioner of Police.
On Sunday, the police officer who was accused of assisting a man who was shot and wounded in July, was released from custody.
The police constable was accused of helping , leave the Port of Spain General Hospital.
The officer was detained on September 17 over allegations of misbehaviour in public office after he collected Bartholomew from the hospital and transported him to Grand Bazaar, Valsayn.
Madame Justice Karen Reid ordered the officer’s release on Sunday following a successful habeas corpus application filed by his attorney, Keron Ramkhalwhan.
So what was the issue in this matter?
Question – Was Bartholomew actually in lawful police custody when the officer allegedly assisted him in leaving the hospital?
Attorney Ramkhalwhan argued that the State had not established that Bartholomew was lawfully detained at the time.
He said Bartholomew had initially been detained under the Emergency Powers Regulations, but that period had expired. Although a subsequent Preventive Detention Order (PDO) was issued, he said police acknowledged that the order had not been served because Bartholomew was hospitalized.
Justice Reid said there was insufficient material before her at this stage to determine whether Bartholomew’s original detention was lawful.
She also questioned why the police officer needed to remain in custody while investigators prepared a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Justice Reid said the State had failed to demonstrate why continued detention of the officer was necessary and described concerns about possible witness interference as unsupported and hypothetical.
The officer was released on pre-charge bail pending the DPP’s advice and any further action.
Bartholomew was hospitalized on July 23 after being shot outside his home at Second Caledonia, Morvant.
According to reports, Bartholomew was standing outside his residence when gunfire erupted. As residents rushed outside to investigate the disturbance, they discovered him suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest, hands and legs.
He was immediately transported to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he was treated and remained warded. Following the violent incident, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service initiated heightened security measures. Senior TTPS officials confirmed that increased patrols were deployed in and around the medical facility, as well as across the capital, as officers moved to prevent possible reprisal shootings.
Senior police officers of the North Eastern Division had assessed Bartholomew as a high-risk shooting victim and assigned police officers to guard him because of intelligence about a possible further attack.
The hospital guard was intended to protect Bartholomew and those around him, rather than keep him as a prisoner.
Bartholomew was discharged on September 17. The constable went to the hospital and transported him in a marked police vehicle to the Grand Bazaar area, where another vehicle was waiting.
The movement took place without the knowledge of senior officers at Besson Street Police Station and the Port of Spain Division, leading to the Constable’s detention and investigation.
The officer reportedly admitted to transporting Bartholomew.
