Gunmen kill ‘changed man’

RELATIVES of Wayne Clarke, a 55-year-old Tunapuna man who was shot dead near his Green Street home on Sunday, told Newsday he had changed his life from that of a petty criminal to being a family man after spending more than a decade in jail.

“This is a great loss,” said his only daughter.

“My father was my number one supporter when he came out of jail. He could not be there for me when I was younger, but all he talks about since he got out is my three children and me. He lived his life in the past, but he made a complete change.”

According to police, Clarke – a vendor who also worked at the Tunapuna Regional Corporation, was selling at his stall when a gunman approached and shot him in his head.

Relatives at the Forensic Science Centre told Newsday yesterday, he was arrested more than 30 years ago and was convicted of a string of petty theft offences, for which he spent 16 years in jail. When he got out, he focused all his energy on his family who did not abandon him while he was imprisoned.

“He paid his debt to society and his family never left him,” said another relative.

“Now he only has one child, but he has grandchildren, nephews, nieces, great nephews and great nieces in whose lives he is an active part. What I am trying to say is he is a family man. He told the youths in our family “you see what I passed through, I don’t want you to go through that. He set an example for all of them.”