Public urged not to jump to conclusion

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

POLICE Commissioner Mathew Varley urges public not to jump to conclusion on the West Kola Ridge stabbing incident of October 24.

Speaking during a press conference, Varley said, “Do not to jump to conclusion in relation to the status of the accused as police will investigate all circumstances and presented to the court.

He said it is very dangerous to speculate any detail around the reasons or the motivation of the homicide.

“That’s a finding of facts that the court has to determine.

“I know there has been some commentary around the mental health powers of the police,” Varley said

“Police become involved when the provision and mental health act fall into play and it is important that the role of the police is to protect public from immediate threat of safety or harm.

Thus police cannot just simply arrest people with mental health but will work closely with the responsible authorities, mental health issue is a tricky issue and the public must aware to base their debate on facts and law,” Varley said.

Varley describes the incident on Tuesday as brutal and tragic.

He said the incident not only affects the family concerned but the community and the police.

He said on behalf of the force their hearts goes out to the family who lost their son.

“Obviously we condemned this unnecessary and tragic death on the strongest term and our officers have been working very hard with the family in the investigating the case,” Varley said.

The accused, a 35-year-old man has been arrested by police and placed in custody to be appeared in court.

Varley said he will not go into details on the incident as that will be the facts to be presented to the court but confirmed the man is related to the deceased and was living at the same residence.

The murder occurred outside their home at West Kolaridge; while the boy was playing, the man suddenly appeared with the weapon, a knife, and allegedly stabbed the deceased.

Discover more from Theislandsun

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading