Commissioner at murdered prison officer’s funeral: Hurry up with the vengeance, Lord

PRISONS COMMISSIONER Dennis Pulchan on Monday called on God to quickly exact vengeance on those responsible for murdering one of his officers, Trevor Serrette.

At the funeral for Serrette at the St Francis RC Church, Brierly Street, Sangre Grande, Pulchan said Serrette was killed by those with no respect for law and order in the country. He said the killers have a belief that they have a right “to create chaos and run havoc.

“It is said, ‘Vengeance is mine,’ says the Lord. I am saying, hurry up my Lord.”

Serrette was shot dead on November 26 while at his fruit stall in Valencia. Three days later another prison officer Nigel Jones was gunned down while he and his four-year-old daughter were waiting for transport in Siparia.

Jones will be buried on Tuesday.

Last Thursday, the 14 men held in connection with the men’s murder were all released without charge. On Saturday their attorney Roshan Tota-Maharaj sent the Attorney General a pre-action protocol letter threatening to sue for wrongful arrest. He said his clients were only arrested in an attempt to maintain the police service’s good image.

Pulchan said the prison service will continue to stand firm in doing its job and not falter, and will continue delivering the service the country needs.

Serrette was remembered by his son Travis as having a permanent smile on his face which had the power to change the mood of anyone he interacted with.

“My dad was priceless,” he said adding that two of Serrette’s three grandchildren will never know that about him.

He added that his father had an “unsurpassed passion” for his garden. Mourners who knew him were heard agreeing with this saying Serrette would find ways to mention his garden in almost every conversation.

During the homily, Fr Matthew Ragbir called on the nation not to see Serrette being just a number on a hit list but the person he was. He said while these are difficult times, there is opportunity in every crisis and called on those gathered to take the opportunity to look inside and follow the way of Christ.

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds told mourners that Serrette was a patriot. Serrette, he said, followed in the footsteps of his father, retired prison officer Michael Diaz and came from a family of service members from different arms of national security agencies

“Since we got this horrific news, we gathered at the level of leadership. And from that moment we have been exerting best efforts to determine who would have been responsible for this and to exert our best efforts in finding them.”

He sought to comfort the family telling them that from the little he knows he was satisfied that all was being done to apprehend those responsible. He told the prison service and other arms of the protective service that the government will provide them with the resources to do their jobs as they understand the level of danger that they put themselves in.

“We know that the family is inconsolable, but we give you the assurance that we share your burden, we share your pain and we will do all we can to bring comfort to this family. We will not relent. We are confident of the victory of good over evil and we will leave no stone unturned in realising that.”