PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) -The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) has called for the urgent implementation of additional security measures for prosecutors and judicial officers following the “brutal murder” of attorney Randall Hector on Tuesday night as he left a church in the capital.
“Mr Hector’s brutal murder was perpetrated (one) day after the declaration of a state of emergency. The LATT is of the view that given the role that Mr Hector played in the administration of criminal justice in Trinidad and Tobago, there is an urgent need for the implementation of security measures for all prosecutors and judicial officers in the criminal justice system,” the LATT said in a statement.
Hector, 43, who had been attached to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for 10 years, before moving to the Office of the Attorney General and later into private practice, had still being contracted to represent the State in both criminal and civil matters.
Hector was gunnned down on Tuesday night, as he walked out of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, with his wife and two young children.
Media reports said that as Hector and his wife, among others, walked to their respective vehicles upon conclusion of the service, two vehicles pulled alongside Hector’s car and occupants opened fire on him, hitting him squarely in the chest. He was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In its statement, the LATT condemned the murder saying that Hector was a well-respected member of the legal profession and the national community.
“Mr Hector was admitted to practice in Trinidad and Tobago in 2006. Throughout his career, he has played an integral part in the administration of the criminal justice system and was a prosecutor in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The LATT joins with Mr Hector’s family, friends and colleagues in mourning his death and calls upon the police to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. The alarming level of violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago, to which our citizens have been subjected for many years now, is cause for very serious concern,” it added.
Prosecutors in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) have expressed fear for their lives with the Trinidad Express newspaper reporting that the DPP, Roger Gaspard, SC, has sent an e-mail to acting Chief Justice Nolan Bereaux indicating to him that prosecutors would not be attending court today.
The paper quoted a source in the DPP’s Office as saying that some prosecutors were “not taking his (Hector’s) death lightly. Some of us may need counselling”.
“Some of us (in the DPP’s Office) are even fearful of having to prosecute some of these people. Will it be me next if I prosecute a case? But some of us don’t care and we will just do what we have to do,” a prosecutor told the Express.
Meanwhile, amid widespread speculations that Hector had been killed because he was the lawyer involved in prosecuting a man said to be a gang leader, attorneys Pamela Elder, SC, and Russell Warner, the reputed gang leader’s lawyers, have since issued a statement seeking to clarify the facts of the case.
They said that while Hector had, in fact, prosecuted the alleged gang leader, the case against their client was discharged on September 23, 2024.
According to the attorneys Hector had brought certain matters to the attention of the DPP, and had also sought Gaspard’s position on those matters.
“The DPP was out of the jurisdiction on the date of the sufficiency hearing and Mr Hector requested some time to have the position determined by the DPP,” according to the statement.
“Mr Hector conducted that prosecution as a true minister of justice. He acted fairly, with integrity and in a manner consistent with the highest traditions of our profession,” the statement added.
