HGP NIGHTLY NEWS – A post-mortem examination has found that 32-year-old Gavin Kennard Douglas died from blunt force trauma to the head, days after he died following an alleged struggle with ranks while in police custody at Vreed-en-Hoop.
Nightly News understands that the autopsy, conducted on Monday, identified blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death.
Visible marks of violence were also reportedly observed on Douglas’s body.
The findings now place even greater scrutiny on the circumstances surrounding the death of the Crane Housing Scheme labourer, who died less than two hours after arriving at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station on Saturday, October 31.
Douglas had been arrested in connection with an alleged armed robbery reportedly committed on October 28 at New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop.
According to the Guyana Police Force’s initial account, Douglas arrived at the station at approximately 11:36 a.m.
Police said that about 24 minutes later, ranks attempted to place him in the lockups, but he allegedly became aggressive and resisted.
Officers reportedly restrained him.
Then, at approximately 12:45 p.m., police said ranks checking the lockups found Douglas frothing at the mouth.
He was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he later died while receiving medical attention.
The autopsy finding that Douglas suffered fatal blunt force trauma to his head now raises serious questions about how and when that injury was sustained.
At this stage, however, the post-mortem finding alone does not establish who caused the injury or the circumstances under which it occurred.
The Office of Professional Responsibility has launched an investigation into Douglas’s death.
Investigations are continuing.
