Police officers attached to the Northern Division watched an alleged male suspect whom they had shot bleed to death on the road for 23 minutes instead of taking him to hospital.

The officers claimed they had rushed the man to hospital, which was documented in the station diary.

From Chaguaramas to Gasparillo, shooting ranges are springing up everywhere, but checks and oversights for individuals operating them seem non-existent.

Both the Ministry of National Security and the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) have indicated they do not have any role in granting permission for outdoor shooting ranges to operate.

This, however, contradicts information gathered from interviews conducted by this paper with four past Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDS).

The Sunday Express has observed the proliferation of shooting ranges by holders of Firearms User’s Licences (FULs): they clear parcels of land, place targets strategically on the compound, and invite people to sign up for target practice.

Extravagant gifts such as a Benelli M4 shotgun are being showered on several police officers and employees of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service by businessmen in exchange for fast-tracking gun licences.

The businessmen in question operate their establishments in Central Trinidad and Sea Lots.

There’s an old adage—crime doesn’t pay.

This is however arguable, especially if your legal business profits from the existence and/or attempts to curb crime through bolstering a country’s national security apparatus or arming the citizenry and its law enforcement officers with legal gadgets.

On January 8 this year, a 23-year-old woman was kidnapped, tortured and brutally raped for five hours by Joel Balcon, aka Devon Charles.

She found out his name after being shown his picture by a relative on January 31.

The picture was circula­ting on Facebook of a suspect held in connection with the kidnapping of 23-year-old Andrea Bharatt.

THE Government has scored a victory following the dismissal of a default ruling by a United States District judge in the case involving an aviation company suing Trinidad and Tobago for millions of dollars in damages.

But although the ruling has been set aside, the judge has hinted that parties involved in the litigation may have to settle to the satisfaction of all involved.

Vertical Aviation is seeking close to US$13 million (TT$88 million) in compensation from the Government for breach of contract for a helicopter under the then-Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration in 2014.

Thirty-five-year-old Tumpuna Road, Arima, resident Andrew Morris was beaten to a pulp by police while he was being interrogated for the kidnapping of 23-year-old Andrea Bharatt.

Morris’ “criminal” record shows two marijuana possession charges in 2004 and 2006.

A Sunday Express investigation has revealed that on January 31, heavily armed Special Operations Response Team (SORT) officers des­cended on Morris’ Arima home. He was a Heavy T driver and car rental businessman.

Andrew Morris was murdered by police.

Attorney for the family of the 35-year-old Arima man, Nestor Dinnoo-Alloy says the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has questions to answer in relation to Morris’ death.

Covid-19 is not a valid defence.

In rubbishing the defence of the Trinidad and Tobago Government in the case of breach of contract for a Sikorsky helicopter, Vertical Aviation also called claims by National Security Minister Stuart Young that an investigation has been launched into how Vertical Aviation secured the contract as a “half-hearted defence” which is “obviously manufactured”.

A local security company took the State to court in 2019 for breach of a US$21.8 million contract to build a hangar in Cumuto to store five helicopters, but lost and has appealed.

Two sub-contractors are to be compensated, however.

The former government had agreed to buy the helicopters in 2014 but did not make the downpayment and the deal fell through with Bell Helicopter of Texas, USA.

Bell is one of the largest suppliers of military helicopters to the United States Army.