A Special Reserve Police Officer in Trinidad and Tobago is said to be in a critical condition at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital after ingesting a deadly herbicide (Swiper) used for destroying grass following an altercation at his home with his 45-year-old close female relative.
The officer allegedly stabbed the woman several times following an argument on Saturday night and then ingested the substance. According to reports at about 11 pm on Saturday the 54-year-old officer had a quarrel with his close relative, Hazel Toussaint-Chadband.
During the argument, the officer reportedly expressed anger over the woman’s decision to attend a fete on Saturday. Toussaint-Chadband reportedly told the officer she had no reason to feel sorry for attending the fete, causing him to become further enraged.
Further reports are that the officer took a kitchen knife and stabbed Toussaint-Chadband several times about the body, then took a cutlass and began beating her with the flat side of it.
As the woman lay bleeding on the ground, the officer took a bottle of Swiper and ingested the contents. He then forced the bleeding woman into his car and drove to the St James Medical Infirmary where the couple remained unable to even alight from the vehicle.
Police later learnt that the officer again drank from the bottle of herbicide while seated in the car with Toussaint-Chadband outside the St James Infirmary.
Surprised medical personnel took control of the situation by removing the couple from the car as doctors attempted to treat them for their injuries.
However, by midnight a decision was taken to convey the officer and Toussaint-Chadband to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where they remained warded up until yesterday.
Newsday
