The Guyana Police Force has found itself at the centre of a brewing scandal following allegations of vigilante justice made by a dying man against several of its ranks.
Collin Murphy, also known as “Day Day”, a 22-year-old welder of Haslington New Scheme on the East Coast Demerara (ECD), and who was employed at Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI), died at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Friday last after being hospitalised for six weeks following an accident outside the East La Penitence Police Station, Georgetown, on February 13, 2023.
Throughout his hospital stay, Murphy and his family had repeatedly claimed that he was immediately accosted and beaten by two Police officers following the accident, an allegation that the Guyana Police Force has vehemently denied.
However, in a video seen by this publication, Murphy can be heard describing the alleged beating to his relatives from his hospital bed, saying, “I sure they lash me up in meh head with a gun because if you watch me skin you will see it ain’t get nuff whitey like when you ride and you fall off yah bike. Is all them gun butt that they lash me up in me neck back mussy trouble me spine.”
The incident allegedly occurred as Murphy was attempting to evade a party of Policemen, who were conducting a roadblock outside the East La Penitence Police Station. He was allegedly riding an unmarked motorcycle without a helmet on the wrong side of the road when he collided head-on with a car in oncoming traffic.
Despite the Guyana Police Force’s report that Murphy’s injuries were severe, the man’s family is claiming that the injuries sustained from the accident were minor and not life-threatening enough to cause his death.
In an interview with this publication, a relative revealed that Murphy was expecting a baby with his girlfriend. The family is now left to mourn his untimely death and has been deprived of the opportunity of him meeting his unborn child.
Meanwhile, the Police had said that ranks have cooperated with the family in all ways reasonable, and an active investigation is ongoing with a file soon to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
Despite the Police Force refuting the claims by the dead man’s family, Murphy’s family is insisting on seeing the full video footage beyond the collision for their own closure.
