$7.4m bail for 7 cops charged with killing 3 Morvant men in 2020

Seven of the eight police officers charged with the 2020 murders of three men in Second Caledonia, Morvant, were granted bail on Thursday, in varying sums, amounting to $7.4 million.

The eighth had previously been granted bail in the sum of $750,000.

On Thursday, Sgt Joseph Solomon, corporal Charles Budri, constables Sherwin Baptiste, Mark Lewis, Vaughn St Cyr, Jameel Mohammed, and Colin Furlonge were granted bail by Justice Gail Gonzales at a virtual hearing.

They are represented by Senior Counsel Israel Khan, Ulric Skerritt and Arissa Maharaj.

PC Sean Lord had previously been granted bail.

All seven are to report to the police administration building as part of their bail condition and they were also ordered to surrender their passports. The seven were reminded if they breached any of the bail conditions, it will be revoked.

Budri and Furlong were each granted $1.2 million bail while the sum for the others was set at $1 million each.

The officers were charged by Supt Wayne Abbott with the murders of Joel Jacob, 38, Noel Diamond, 46, and Israel Moses Clinton, 27, on June 27, 2020 at Juman Drive, near the Auto Guru building.

The officers who were last assigned to the Inter-Agency Task Force were part of a team of 18 officers who intercepted a gold-coloured Nissan Tiida hatchback along Juman Drive and allegedly murdered the three men who were reportedly unarmed and had surrendered.

The incident was captured on CCTV footage and shared on social media shortly after the incident. It also sparked widespread protests for three days in Port of Spain, Morvant, Laventille, Cocorite, East Dry River and other areas as people demanded justice and a thorough investigation.

The Police Complaints Authority had completed its investigation in the matter and referred its findings to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. A special task force led by Supt Abbott was detailed to investigate and arrested the eight between July 14 and 15 2022.

The incident created history in the police service as the greatest number of officers to be charged with murder arising out of a single incident.

Before they were charged, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, visited the scene last year when Abbott and his team re-enacted the crime scene to corroborate the testimony of eyewitnesses.

CCTV footage showed several officers with guns drawn approaching the car and Jacob who was in the back seat emerged with both hands in the air. The driver, Clinton, was also seen with his hands above the steering wheel. As Diamond lowered the right-left window the car was shot at.

Jacob had, only moments before, left his home, about two buildings away, to go and buy a bottle of rum to celebrate his birthday and got a drop with Clinton.

A press release issued by the police after their court appearance in July, this year, recounted the officers’ version of events which claimed that during the incident "one of the occupants of the vehicle pointed a firearm at them causing them to discharge their firearms in the direction of the men."