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Turning now to other news - the post mortem for Jesus Sacul has been completed. And while police are not releasing the results - the Commissioner had a lot to say today about Channel 7 News and our coverage of the story.
Speaking generally of the media first - he says coverage has affected their investigation:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We have had two recent incidents where the media prematurely reported on and it created a problem. When I listen to the Channel seven News in respect to who was the young man in the orange walk killing or dead, I got the impression that Channel Seven was on the scene when the thing happened. And I also got the impression that they did a postmortem because right away, because their news report was that the police vehicle ran over the man and the man had two broken ribs."
"How they arrived at that I don't know. Well, the eyewitnesses were not there. The mother said that she was at home when she heard the vehicle and she heard the motorcycle she didn't say she saw what happened."
Reporter:
"She said the residents, people who were there told her"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"No, nobody was there. One person was there and that one person who was there spoke to the police but refused to give a statement. But what the person said to the police was consistent with what the police officers were reporting. And let me say that the postmortem examination was done and it revealed that the young man was not run over by the police vehicle."
"That's not true, but we're still looking at it. The team of investigators have put together the file and it went to the DPP's rep in Orange Walk today for advice in terms of how we want to proceed with the matter. So I will wait to see what the advice is going to be from the DPP council in Orange Walk."
We note that it is the commissioner who said "the motorcycle rider…collided into the fender of the police vehicle…" - but he has not addressed the issue that according to the police policies and procedures manual, "at no time should the officer pull alongside the other vehicle…."
