Top cop: Don’t give up on cases

By JIMMY KALEBE
COURT cases that are thrown out of court for want of police reports should be pursued further by the responsible officer and not ignored, an official says.
Northern command assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Peter Guinness said police should follow up the case and make sure the case goes through the court.
“If the case is dismissed by the court for want of prosecution report, then this is not good enough, and further more, justice is not served to the victim,” he said.
ACP Guinness said victims must be satisfied that their case gets a fair hearing in the court and that all court processes are followed.
He said he had issued instructions to police to follow up with court cases that were thrown out of court and make fresh statements to have the case go before the court especially those that are thrown out for want of prosecution report.
He said there were factors that sometimes thwart police with their files like photocopy machine and papers as well as vehicle but that should not be an excuse to make good brief incident report to be presented in court.
Of late, the Lae court house has dismissed many criminal cases because brief police reports presented are sometimes with defaults or
that police failed to present a brief report.
“It is very challenging for some police personnel who go their own way to make sure their cases go through the courts and these are policemen and women who is true to their job.”
Meanwhile, ACP Guinness said he had not receive any reports about the recapture of escapees at Buimo jail on Aug 14 and the 31 that escaped at Lae Central police station last Wednesday.
However, people harbouring these escapees should report to police or that the prisoners surrender.