In light of the recent disclosure that the younger brother of Guyana’s Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson was arrested in Grenada after allegedly being found in possession of cocaine, the Government Official on Thursday evening said that his relative has to bear the brunt of his actions if found culpable.
“Our position is that Derrick [Patterson] is a matured adult of 47 years and he must bear full responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Neither I nor any other member of my family can take responsibility for his own, deliberate actions,” the Minister said in a public statement made on Facebook.
He explained that his family’s initial reaction at the news was that of shock, and while they remain deeply distressed and concerned, there is some hope that the law enforcement officials in Grenada may have made a mistake.
Nevertheless, he emphasised in his post that his younger brother must face the consequences if he is found guilty in the court of law.
“We have no reason to believe that he will not be treated fairly by the Grenadian legal system. As a family, we will give him all support we legally can, but we will not condone any proven illegal conduct,” he said.
Moreover, he assured that as a Minister of Government, he has no intentions of attempting to “influence the outcome of these serious allegations made against [his brother in any way whatsoever.”
“This is the principled position which I firmly embrace and ought to be a lesson to many under a previous dispensation who, it is widely known, regularly interfered with the course of justice in matters involving their family members, friends and even acquaintances,” Patterson asserted.
Furthermore, at the heels of comments made by observers, including the Parliamentary Opposition, Patterson said “I do not intend to provide a running commentary on every development that follows in this matter or to respond to every attack from political detractors.”
This publication had reported that Patterson’s brother was on Monday remanded to Grenada’s Richmond Hill Prison when he appeared at the St George’s Court before Chief Magistrate, Tamara Gill to answer to a cocaine possession charge.
The Guyanese was charged with trafficking a total of 2.325kgs of cocaine, worth approximately $232,500.
He was remanded to prison.
Derrick Patterson, who is an evaluation supervisor, was visiting Grenada and residing at Captain Harris apartments in Grand Anse, St George.
It was reported that officers attached to the Drug Squad of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) intercepted a vehicle travelling in the vicinity of Springs on May 2 in which Derrick Patterson was the driver.
The vehicle was searched and the drugs were found inside of a plastic bag.
Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, earlier this week called on Government to have a full scale investigation launched in Guyana to ensure that ‘our security was not compromised.’
“This is where the Government should launch a full investigation into it since this is a clean Government that doesn’t tolerate drug dealing,” he had stated.
