Had the police acted on two reports they received on Saturday about an early altercation between two brothers of Darbeau, St. George's, the sixth murder of the year could have been averted.
That is the word coming from attorney-at-law, Anselm Clouden who is representing Nicholas, "Little Niki' Gilbert who is accused of inflicting deadly, multiple chop wounds on his younger brother, Anthony "Snakes' Gilbert during a domestic dispute last Saturday.
Gilbert, 25, made his first court appearance on Tuesday at the St. George's Number One Magistrate's Court where the charge of murder was read to him by Chief Magistrate, Patricia Mark.He was remanded to custody at the Richmond Hill Prison, to reappear in court on March 18.
Clouden told reporters that on the fateful day his client had made two separate reports to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in St. George's of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) about the domestic problem he was having with his 24-year old brother.
"He (Little Niki) went to the police, he gave them a report. He went back to the police, he gave them another report, and one would have thought that the police would have acted with some expedition so as to avert this tragedy," he said.
"If the police had acted with dispatch on the report made, this incident may have been averted," he added.
According to Clouden, the report made to the police is that his client's brother had provoked and threatened him with violence.
The domestic violence between the two brothers took a turn for the worse later that night, resulting in the death of "Snakes".
There are reports that Little Niki immediately surrendered himself to the CID Office in St. George's.
Clouden addressed the need for the local police force to be equipped with the proper tools in order to have prompt surveillance and rapid response to complaints made to them.
A practicing attorney for 20 years, the city barrister charged that it is a common practice of the police to fail to act quickly when they receive complaints from the general public."What used to be said in the days of the old was that they (the police) did not have transportation, and sometimes complainants would have to use their own vehicle to take the police to the scene.
"I am saying that with all the money wasted in the country with respect to all kinds of "Buck Rogers' projects, all designed for political and selfish interests, more money should be put to equip the police that they can do their work effectively.
"And if the money goes into providing them (the police) with transportation, with equipment for crime detection, we would certainly have an abatement of crime in the country.
Grenada has so far recorded six murders for the year.
Four of the murders took place in the month of February, while the latest two took place within 20 hours of each other on March 1.
