REGISTERED Nurse Dawn Saul-Khan, charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice, has been refused bail by Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo. It is alleged that the defendant threatened Chalique Johnson and Melissa Guerrier not to give evidence against her in a drug trafficking case or a bad thing would happen to them and their families abroad.
But the 56-year-old Saul-Khan, of Lot 2098 North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, pleaded not guilty and was remanded to prison until March 8.
Police Corporal Orin Joseph, prosecuting, said between October 16 and November 5, 2012, the virtual complainants and the defendant were inmates at the New Amsterdam Prison, having been remanded there on October 15, after, allegedly, being nabbed with narcotics at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
Subsequent to their incarceration, the defendant was granted bail and left the jail. However, Johnson, 19 and Guerrier, 36, both American citizens had told investigators that Saul-Khan gave them the drug to transport to New York when they were intercepted at the airport.
However, after being arrested and taken to the New Amsterdam Prison, it is alleged that the defendant told them to change their story of her giving them the illegal drug and she will take care of them.
The prosecutor told the court that, should the defendant be allowed bail, she would continue to interfere with the witnesses.
In an unsuccessful application, attorney-at-law Mr. Joel Edmond-Persid informed the court that the defendant is not a flight risk as her valid passport is being held at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
The lawyer said the offence is bailable and the charge is a mere allegation, with the presumption of innocence weighing in the defendant’s favour.a