Attorney collapses in courthouse

ATTORNEY Chaitram Sinanan collapsed in the San Fernando High Court this morning and had to be taken to the San Fernando General Hospital.

Sinanan, 52, who practises mainly in the magistrates’ and criminal assizes, fell ill recently and uses a walking stick. He was seen at about 9.15 am inching his way towards the magistrate's courtroom, which is being housed in the first floor of the High Court.

Sinanan, a former president of the Criminal Bar Association, stopped and spoke to Newsday briefly about his illness. He said, “Doctors can’t say what wrong with me yet. It have to do with my spine. They want to operate, but I told them, ‘If you don’t know what is wrong with me, where you going to operate?’”

Minutes later, Sinanan fell on the floor as he was about to enter the courtroom where magistrate Chankar Sinanan presided. His lip burst and blood smeared his white shirt.

Emergency health technicians arrived and wheeled Sinanan into an ambulance.