An assault charge leveled against Freeman Fordyce, the owner of a strip club, has been dismissed as a result of the key witness, a police inspector, failure to attend court on five occasions.
Fordyce, 41, of Lot 99 Collingswood Avenue, Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara, was charged with assault over allegedly punching Inspector Narine to his neck.
He was on trial in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Courts.
The first charge stated that on November 9, 2018 at George Street, Georgetown, he assaulted Police Inspector, Prem Narine.
It was further alleged that on the same day, and at the same location, Fordyce behaved in a disorderly manner.
This afternoon when the matters were called, they were dismissed as Magistrate Bess cited Inspector Narine’s failure to attend court to testify several times.
According to information, the Inspector, along with other policemen went to search the strip club after four Venezuelan women complained that the businessman seized their passports.
They had also complained that he threatened to kill them and their families if they refused to work as prostitutes.
This revelation came to light when two of the entertainers escaped from the club. It was their statements that led ranks to carry out the raid.
During the search, however, Fordyce punched the Inspector to the neck. The officer subsequently pulled out his gun to keep the attacker at bay.
The entire ordeal was recorded on a surveillance camera.
According to a source, the Police’s former Legal Advisor, Justice Claudette Singh subsequently recommended that the businessman be charged with assault, disorderly behaviour and riotous behaviour.
Last March, Fordyce was sentenced to a four-year suspended sentence for an illegal gun and ammo by a City Magistrate.
The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions has since appealed the Magistrate’s decision.
The businessman is currently before the Courts after being accused of trafficking two Venezuelans for sexual exploitation at his club.
According to information, police carried out a raid at the club in George Street, Georgetown in March which lead to the arrest of 15 women, all said to be foreign nationals.
This was after a video circulated on social media, showed a woman jumping over a locked gate to get into the strip club which also houses a hotel.
The woman was being assisted by four of her friends who were on the other side of the fence. They were holding up the security barbed wire so that the woman could have gained entry.
Hours after the video hit social media, police raided the compound and detained the 15 women, whom investigators suspected to be victims of trafficking in persons (TIP).
