The inquest into the death of a 28-year-old security guard resumes today at the Point Fortin Magistrates Court. The inquest will seek to ascertain the circumstances related to the death of Keston Francett on August 13, 2008. Police reports at the time claimed that Francett shot himself in the head when officers approached him at Limefield Road in Cedros. Francett's relatives say the police version of events is inaccurate.
The dead man's mother is a police sergeant assigned to the Central Division. Six detectives from the Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB), three members of the Defence Force and three officers assigned to the Preventative Branch of Customs and Excise are subjects of the inquest.
According to police reports, at around 2 am, the OCNFB detectives, along with customs and Defence Force personnel, were on surveillance in Bonasse Village, Cedros, when they saw Francette, dressed in black clothes and brandishing a gun. Challenged by police and ordered to drop the gun, Francette reportedly put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
After the shooting, an investigation was launched and it was stated that Francett had left his home in Carapichaima, to visit a female relative with whom he had had a dispute earlier. The relative and her children were at the Cedros Police Station under police guard after information was received that Francett had contacted another relative saying he planned to kill the female relative and her children.
Francett, police say, then went to his workplace at Allied Security and armed himself with a gun. It was while leaving the Cedros home of the female relative that he was intercepted by the officers.