Retired officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Leonard Mc Coshen, will today officially begin working along with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on the investigation into the death of 11-year-old Adriana Younge.
The Canadian expert arrived in the country on Monday night after being retained by the Guyana Government in keeping with a promise made by President Dr Irfaan Ali.
His involvement on the case comes amid calls from the child’s family for international help in the probe, particularly from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
However, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall has pointed out that the GPF is the lawful enforcement body responsible for conducting investigations in Guyana and therefore, the Government must be careful about setting a precedent with hiring foreign investigators to do same.
“The Guyana Police Force is the lawful, authorised agency to conduct investigations in Guyana. If it is every time persons are affected by a death, or a death assumes the type of attention that this one has assumed, the Government has to import law enforcement agencies, what will that do to the morale of the GPF?” he questioned during his programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday.
Further, he said every family will begin to demand the same investment if this practice is encouraged.
“Where would it stop? No one’s child is more valuable than the other so on what basis would one family get this special treatment and it’s not extended to others?” the Attorney General further questioned.
Noting that there are people who will never be satisfied with anything his Government does, Nandlall said “when you are in Government, you have to make decisions that do not set precedent because you have to always take into account the public good.”
Nevertheless, he pointed out that the Government has retained the services of the retired officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
“The gentleman, Staff Sergeant of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Leonard McCoshen, is a very experienced and qualified suspicious death investigator,” he noted.
Mc Coshen was hired in keeping with a promise made by President Ali to ensure the investigation into the child’s death is thorough and transparent.
This is in light of public concerns raised on how the case was handled by the GPF on April 23, when the 11-year-old was reported missing from the now-gutted Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) up to the discovery of her body in the facility’s swimming pool on April 24.
Already, the Government has facilitated the intervention of three foreign pathologists who conducted the autopsy on April 28 which determined that the child died from drowning.
Not satisfied, the family has since requested another autopsy by Dr. Hubert Daisley, a controversial Trinidadian forensic pathologist, following the postponement of the funeral on May 5. Nandlall has raised concerns on whether such an examination will yield results given the time which has elapsed.
“From what I’ve been advised by persons far more qualified than I am… the body, in its current state, would have been deprived of any forensic value given the time elapsed and previous procedures conducted,” he related.
In this regard, Nandlall lamented that the death of Adriana Younge is being used to “score political mileage.”
This, he further bemoaned, is not a new practice. “There is a tendency in this country that if the investigation does not yield a result that is acceptable to the politicians, they consider that investigation as a coverup and they continue to say that that crime is unsolved,” the AG said.
He referenced cases such as the Henry boys and Courtney Crum-Ewing which persons continue to claim remain unsolved despite the fact that the respective perpetrators were charged.
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