Fire set to ‘pile of paper’ and chair of Essequibo Magistrate

Police formed a bucket brigade to extinguish a fire set to the Suddie Magistrate’s Court early Wednesday morning; a pile of paper on the Magistrate’s chair was apparently doused with kerosene to ignite the blaze.

According to the Police, someone attempted to set fire to the building between 04:49hrs and 05:25hrs.

A Police Corporal who was on duty at the court told investigators that he observed what appeared to be fire and smoke coming from the bottom flat of the building at the area of the stairway.

He alerted two other ranks and they managed to gain entry through the door on the upper flat of the court.
There, it was observed that the pile of paper on the Magistrate’s chair was on fire.

The officers formed a bucket brigade to extinguish the fire while they awaited the arrival of the fire service.

The crewmen visited the scene where photographs were taken and the scene was then searched.

Four plastic bottles with suspected kerosene scent emanating from them along with two chisels were found. The items were lodged at the Suddie Police station.
An investigation is ongoing.