In­dar­jit Seu­raj

A med­ical re­port pre­pared on the men­tal ca­pac­i­ty of killer Chuck At­tin showed he was re­morse­ful and want­ed to pos­i­tive­ly con­tribute to so­ci­ety. Ac­cord­ing to psy­chi­atric con­sul­tant Dr Hazel Oth­el­lo, the pris­on­er has en­rolled in ed­u­ca­tion­al and vo­ca­tion­al ac­tiv­i­ties to do this.

His re­port added: "Chuck At­tin does not suf­fer from a men­tal dis­or­der at this time and he has not suf­fered from a men­tal dis­or­der in the past."He of­fend­ed at a young age and has stat­ed he now wants an op­por­tu­ni­ty to make a pos­i­tive con­tri­bu­tion to so­ci­ety." At­tin, who was then 16 years old, and co-ac­cused Noel Seep­er­sad were con­vict­ed on Feb­ru­ary 7, 1997 of the mur­ders of house­wives Can­dace Scott and Karen Sa Gomes. At­tin is now 32.

In a pe­ti­tion at the Port-of-Spain First Crim­i­nal Court, led by at­tor­neys Kei­th Scot­land and Daniel Khan, seek­ing to have him re­turned to so­ci­ety, Oth­el­lo's re­port forms the back­bone of the ap­pli­ca­tion for his re­lease.In his sub­mis­sions be­fore Jus­tice An­tho­ny Car­mona yes­ter­day, Scot­land quot­ed ex­tracts of the re­port to bol­ster the ap­pli­ca­tion.

Based on Oth­el­lo's find­ings, he said, At­tin dis­played no "per­son­al­i­ty dis­or­der" and was open­ly re­morse­ful about his pre­vi­ous crim­i­nal be­hav­iour.But a bio-so­cial re­port, pre­pared by Pris­ons Wel­fare Of­fi­cer I De­op­er­sad Ra­moutar, and quot­ed by Scot­land, stat­ed At­tin had not learnt the skills nec­es­sary to gain em­ploy­ment.

"As far as I have dis­cov­ered, he has not ac­quired suf­fi­cient em­ploy­able and life skills to be the best can­di­date for ear­ly re­lease," Ra­moutar said.He not­ed, how­ev­er, that the prison did not have the nec­es­sary pro­grammes avail­able for rein­te­gra­tion.

Al­so, a so­cial re­port pre­pared by Pris­ons Wel­fare Of­fi­cer II Hay­den Wal­cott stat­ed de­spite be­ing re­morse­ful, he was "de­void of ef­fec­tive cog­ni­tive skills" to ad­e­quate­ly deal with the chal­lenges of life in the wider so­ci­ety.

The hear­ing was ad­journed to De­cem­ber 7 when full oral sub­mis­sions would be heard. George Bus­by ap­pears for the pros­e­cu­tion.

A med­ical re­port pre­pared on the men­tal ca­pac­i­ty of killer Chuck At­tin showed he was re­morse­ful and want­ed to pos­i­tive­ly con­tribute to so­ci­ety.Ac­cord­ing to psy­chi­atric con­sul­tant Dr Hazel Oth­el­lo, the pris­on­er has en­rolled in ed­u­ca­tion­al and vo­ca­tion­al ac­tiv­i­ties to do this.His re­port added: "Chuck At­tin does not suf­fer from a men­tal dis­or­der at this time and he has not suf­fered from a men­tal dis­or­der in the past.

"He of­fend­ed at a young age and has stat­ed he now wants an op­por­tu­ni­ty to make a pos­i­tive con­tri­bu­tion to so­ci­ety." At­tin, who was then 16 years old, and co-ac­cused Noel Seep­er­sad were con­vict­ed on Feb­ru­ary 7, 1997 of the mur­ders of house­wives Can­dace Scott and Karen Sa Gomes. At­tin is now 32.In a pe­ti­tion at the Port-of-Spain First Crim­i­nal Court, led by at­tor­neys Kei­th Scot­land and Daniel Khan, seek­ing to have him re­turned to so­ci­ety, Oth­el­lo's re­port forms the back­bone of the ap­pli­ca­tion for his re­lease.

In his sub­mis­sions be­fore Jus­tice An­tho­ny Car­mona yes­ter­day, Scot­land quot­ed ex­tracts of the re­port to bol­ster the ap­pli­ca­tion. Based on Oth­el­lo's find­ings, he said, At­tin dis­played no "per­son­al­i­ty dis­or­der" and was open­ly re­morse­ful about his pre­vi­ous crim­i­nal be­hav­iour.But a bio-so­cial re­port, pre­pared by Pris­ons Wel­fare Of­fi­cer I De­op­er­sad Ra­moutar, and quot­ed by Scot­land, stat­ed At­tin had not learnt the skills nec­es­sary to gain em­ploy­ment.

"As far as I have dis­cov­ered, he has not ac­quired suf­fi­cient em­ploy­able and life skills to be the best can­di­date for ear­ly re­lease," Ra­moutar said.He not­ed, how­ev­er, that the prison did not have the nec­es­sary pro­grammes avail­able for rein­te­gra­tion.Al­so, a so­cial re­port pre­pared by Pris­ons Wel­fare Of­fi­cer II Hay­den Wal­cott stat­ed de­spite be­ing re­morse­ful, he was "de­void of ef­fec­tive cog­ni­tive skills" to ad­e­quate­ly deal with the chal­lenges of life in the wider so­ci­ety.The hear­ing was ad­journed to De­cem­ber 7 when full oral sub­mis­sions would be heard. George Bus­by ap­pears for the pros­e­cu­tion.