A professional footballer was among 18 Port-of-Spain residents who walked out of the Port-of-Spain Magistrates' Court yesterday, after they were freed of gang-related charges. Their release yesterday brought the total number of people charged under the Anti-Gang Act and later released to 78. Keon Quow, 22, of Beetham Gardens, a striker with T&T Pro League team, W Connection, was charged along with seven other Beetham Gardens residents with being members of the "Beetham Gang." Quow, a former member of the national under-20 football team, also played for the Police Football Club in last year's Pro League season.
Quow's brother, Kevin, and his two cousins, Akil and Kenton Adams, were also charged as members of the gang and were released yesterday.
When the matter was called by Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayres-Caesar, presiding in the Eighth Court, state prosecutor, Hema Sundarsingh, who represented Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, told the court that Gaspard was exercising his right to discontinue the proceedings against the men. They were represented by Pennelope Beckles and Janelle Farrell. Sundarsingh said notices of discontinuance had already been filed on behalf of the 18 accused.
"The DPP perused the files and found insufficient evidence to prosecute the matters," she said. Ten other men charged as being members of the Duncan Street, Port-of-Spain, Gang were also set free when their matters were called minutes later. After their release, most of the men said they were happy to be free after spending more than a month in prison. Several complained of the poor conditions at the "Guantanamo Bay" section of the Golden Grove Prison, Arouca.