Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A key witness in the trial of a man accused of murdering an elderly businessman in Caparo in 2006, claimed he cannot recall implicating the accused in a statement to the police.
The issue with Gary Farrell’s testimony arose yesterday when he appeared before High Court Judge Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds and a 12-member jury at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain to testify against Richard “Bean” Mc Bain for the murder of Stephen Hackshaw.
Farrell said, his alleged inability to remember the contents of the statement attributed to him was not due to the passage of time, but the effects of prolonged marijuana use and a head injury on his memory.
“I smoked marijuana for over 35 years plus, I got a few lashes on my head, so I don’t remember things,” he said.
“I could remember the police asking me questions and giving me the pen to sign but I can’t remember the events of that day.”
Farrell, who described himself as a former “street pharmacist” because he used to sell marijuana, repeatedly expressed his unwillingness to participate in the case.
“My life changed from 18 years ago. I am married now. I am a grandfather. I had a heart attack in 2018. I fear for my life,” he said.
Presented with the statement he claimed that he was “tricked” into signing while high on marijuana, Farrell claimed he could not read it because of the handwriting of the police officer who wrote it.
“It was not legible then and it is not legible now. The court staff even had a problem reading it,” he said.
Farrell admitted that he knew Mc Bain after being introduced by a mutual friend but denied that Mc Bain ever purchased marijuana from him or discussed the murder as claimed in the statement.
“The person named Bean never purchased anything from me,” he said.
Farrell was quizzed by State prosecutor Charmaine Samuel about his personal details including the names and ages of his common-law wife and children that were in the statement.
“That is public information the authorities could have gotten,” he said.
Justice Ramsumair-Hinds and the jury also heard evidence from Senior Supt Curt Simon, who purportedly recorded the statement from Farrell while he was a constable. Simon maintained that the statement was legitimately recorded from Farrell.
“He spoke and I wrote,” Simon said. “He gave it voluntarily and of his free will. I did not threaten or induce him.”
After upholding an application from Samuel to deem Farrell a hostile witness, the statement was read to the jury.
In the statement, Farrell claimed that in April 2006, Mc Bain came to his home and asked about renting a gun to do a robbery in Caparo. He allegedly claimed that after he told Mc Bain he could not assist, Mc Bain showed him a knife which he said he would use.
He allegedly claimed that later that evening he saw a television report on Hackshaw’s murder.
Farrell allegedly said that the following day, Mc Bain returned, told him what transpired and showed him a revolver he stole from Hackshaw after stabbing him to death.
Confronted by the contents of the statement, Farrell maintained that it was not plausible.
“Why would he come by me after? It does not make any sense,” he said.
“That not sounding like something I would say,” he added.
Hackshaw and his wife were attacked at their Rostant Road, Caparo, home on April 16, 2006. His wife was wounded but survived.
Mc Bain was arrested in Toco almost one year later and charged with the crime.
Mc Bain is being represented by Stephen Wilson and Ayanna Norville of the Public Defenders’ Department. Gillana Guy is appearing alongside Samuel for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The trial is scheduled to continue this morning.