RachelLE AGARD
COURT REPORTS
RETIRED INSPECTOR Andric Chandler said while he accompanied two other officers to Angela Best’s home to inform her about her son Corey Best’s death, he did not enter the house.
On Thursday he told Coroner Manila Renee he went along in case he was needed by Inspector Carollyn Blackman-Alleyne, who broke the news to Best.
“I thought I should accompany Inspector Blackman-Alleyne as she was a woman. I was the only other inspector at the station. I probably would not have accompanied a male officer. My accompanying Inspector Blackman-Alleyne was not a matter of competence,” he said in reply to attorney Tristan Elcock.
“In my view, you never know what the reaction would be from the person receiving the news . . . . I was asked to go with the inspector by the officer in charge who at the time was Acting Senior Superintendent Colvin Bishop,” he said.
Angela Best told the court the officer who accompanied Station Sergeant Leslie Arthur and Blackman-Alleyne just stood by the door and she found his behaviour strange.
“Retired Inspector Chandler was only 11 feet away when Station Sergeant Arthur was making calls. I am sure it was 11 feet because I measured it . . . . Inspector Chandler’s behaviour was strange because he just stood by the door, and looked at me shifting from side to side. You could see that he was uncomfortable,” she said.
Oistins Police Station
Best added that she went back to Oistins Police Station and entered the cell with her sisterin- law and two brothers.
“I remember Inspector Blackman-Alleyne was behind me. I started to cry. She held me around my waist and I told her to let me go . . . . I placed my face on my son’s face. I took my hand and rubbed it all on his head and neck. I asked how did my son get up by the small window at the top of the window, and Inspector Blackman-Alleyne said that [Corey] climbed up on a chair and hanged himself,” she said.
Best said before she left the station earlier that evening, Arthur had remained down by the cell for about 15 to 20 minutes before returning to her, during which time she could hear Corey’s voice, but could not understand what he was saying.
DAILY
