DEFENDANT Shakir Mohamed, accused of murdering Shewraney Doobay, called Monica, on May 24, 2011, claimed that the caution statement he had signed was a fabrication.In a sworn statement from the witness box, the taxi driver accused the police of placing two black bags over his head; and he said a poisonous odour emanating from the bags had made him dizzy and weak, and had left him with no alternative than to sign what he — and his lawyer, Mr. Jainarayan Singh — referred to as a “concoction.”

Shakir and another man named Mark Singh have been jointly charged with allegedly murdering Mrs. Doobay, a doctor’s wife, with a hammer in the cause or furtherance of a robbery. During the investigations, the police have said, both men made caution statements.

Assistant Commissioner Marlon Chapman, one of the principal investigators, had, without holding a confrontation between the accused duo, served on Mohamed a copy of the statement that Singh had made.
Under cross-examination yesterday morning, Mr. Chapman admitted to defence counsel that while he had served a copy of Singh’s statement on Mohamed, he had not served a copy of Mohamed’s statement on Singh.

Singh had died during the hearing of the preliminary inquiry.

Mr. Chapman, who said that he may have read Singh’s statement, declared that he could not remember the contents. He was, however, able to answer questions in relation to Shakir’s statement, since he had been a witness to Skakir’s statement.

Asked certain questions, ACP Chapman would only reply, “I cannot recall”.

Witness said he had read Shakir’s statement, in which he had said that the hammer used as the death weapon had been thrown into a gutter at Campbellville.

Mr. Chapman said that when the bag with the hammer had been recovered, both accused had been present in the same vehicle, and had shouted and pointed almost simultaneously, “This is the place!”

When giving his evidence, Shakir denied that he had pointed or shouted. He also denied that he and the accused Mark Singh had been in the same vehicle. Singh, he said, had been in a car and was handcuffed, while he, Shakir, had been in an open-back vehicle.

In his evidence, Shakir declared that he had been in an office at Brickdam, at which Mr. Chapman, Mr. David, Mr. Wright and other ranks were present.

Shakir said that after he had first refused to sign the statement that David had wanted him to sign, David had instructed a rank at Providence Police Station to monitor Shakir, and that a bucket of water should be thrown on him whenever he was about to sleep.

Shakir said that as a result of the coldness of the water and the cell, his face had been swollen, and this had attracted the attention of his reputed wife.

Shakir said that, while he was in police custody, one of the ranks had immersed a black bag in water and then placed same over his head. He said the obnoxious scent from the bag had left him panting for breath. He could not breathe properly, and he had felt dizzy, but his hands were still handcuffed.

Accused said that what he had experienced with the placing of the black bags over his head had some bearing on him attaching his signature to the document given him.
At this stage, defence counsel pointed out that there were five signatures on the document, and he enquired how the other four signatures had got onto the document.

Accused explained that David had placed his X marks on the document and had told him to sign at every x.

Attorney-at-law Mr. Motee Singh is on Shakir’s defence team.

When the trial resumes today, Miss Mercedes Thompson will cross-examine the accused on behalf of the prosecution.