No files, serious cases thrown out

There is more evidence tonight of a serious breakdown in the criminal justice system … and the result is that suspects accused of some very serious crimes are not being prosecuted. The latest fiasco involves the case of fifty-three year old Roy William Terry, a resident of the Belize District charged with the rape of an eighteen year old girl. At a preliminary inquiry conducted today before Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord, police prosecutor Clinton Magdaleno told the court that despite six requests for the file from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, that file was never delivered. The result was that the charge was struck out for want of prosecution and Terry today is a free man.

A similar outcome was recorded in the case against four men charged with Robbery, Conspiracy to Rob and Aggravated Assault. Prosecutor Magdaleno again told the court that he requested the file but to no avail. Erleon Garbutt, Ernie Miranda, Frank Elijio and Michael Woods were accused in connection with a hold-up in Bermudian Landing in August 2005 in which a shopkeeper was robbed of eight hundred dollars and beat on the head with a gun.

When we called D.P.P. Kirk Anderson for comment we were told he was out of his office at a meeting.