PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -The Regulation Affiliation of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) has known as for the pressing implementation of further safety measures for prosecutors and judicial officers following the “brutal homicide” of lawyer Randall Hector on Tuesday night time as he left a church within the capital.
“Mr Hector’s brutal homicide was perpetrated (one) day after the declaration of a state of emergency. The LATT is of the view that given the position that Mr. Hector performed within the administration of prison justice in Trinidad and Tobago, there may be an pressing want for the implementation of safety measures for all prosecutors and judicial officers within the prison justice system,” the LATT stated in a press release.
Hector, 43, who had been connected to the Workplace of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for 10 years earlier than shifting to the Workplace of the Legal professional Common and later into non-public follow, had nonetheless been contracted to symbolize the State in prison and civil issues.
Hector was gunned down on Tuesday night time as he walked out of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church together with his spouse and two younger youngsters.
Media reviews stated that as Hector and his spouse, amongst others, walked to their respective automobiles upon the conclusion of the service, two automobiles pulled alongside Hector’s automotive, and occupants opened hearth on him, hitting him squarely within the chest. He was rushed to the Port-of-Spain Common Hospital, the place he was pronounced useless.
In its assertion, the LATT condemned the homicide, saying that Hector was a well-respected member of the authorized occupation and the nationwide neighborhood.
“Mr. Hector was admitted to follow in Trinidad and Tobago in 2006. All through his profession, he has performed an integral half within the administration of the prison justice system and was a prosecutor within the workplace of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The LATT joins with Mr Hector’s household, associates, and colleagues in mourning his dying and calls upon the police to swiftly carry the perpetrators to justice. The alarming stage of violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago, to which our residents have been subjected for a few years now, is trigger for grave concern,” it added.
Prosecutors within the Workplace of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) have expressed worry for his or her lives. The Trinidad Specific newspaper reported that the DPP, Roger Gaspard, SC, has despatched an e-mail to appearing Chief Justice Nolan Bereaux indicating that prosecutors is not going to be attending court docket at present.
The paper quoted a supply within the DPP’s Workplace as saying that some prosecutors had been “not taking his (Hector’s) dying frivolously. A few of us might have counseling”.
“A few of us (within the DPP’s Workplace) are even fearful of getting to prosecute a few of these individuals. Will or not it’s me subsequent if I prosecute a case? However a few of us don’t care, and we’ll do what we should,” a prosecutor instructed the Specific.
In the meantime, amid widespread speculations that Hector had been killed as a result of he was the lawyer concerned in prosecuting a person stated to be a gang chief, attorneys Pamela Elder, SC, and Russell Warner, the reputed gang chief’s attorneys, have since issued a press release searching for to make clear the details of the case.
They stated that whereas Hector had prosecuted the alleged gang chief, the case in opposition to their consumer was discharged on September 23, 2024.
Based on the attorneys, Hector had introduced sure issues to the eye of the DPP and sought Gaspard’s place on them.
“The DPP was out of the jurisdiction on the date of the sufficiency listening to, and Mr Hector requested a while to have the place decided by the DPP,” in accordance with the assertion.
“Mr Hector performed that prosecution as a real minister of justice. He acted pretty, with integrity, and in a way in step with the very best traditions of our occupation,” the assertion added.
