The Nyerah Court on Tuesday saw the start of the British national Roger Pratt’s murder trial. Defendants Richie Kern, Jeromine Jones, Kervin Devaux and Fanis Joseph sat side-by-side, flanked by two police officers. Defence attorneys Sandy John, Alberton Richelieu, David Moyston and George Charlemagne sat nearby, with Justice Margaret Price-Findlay presiding. Fifteen jurors, inclusive of twelve females were also present.
On January 17, 2014, Roger and Margaret Pratt were docked in their yacht Magnetic Attraction, in Vieux Fort. Director of Public Prosecutions Daarsrean Greene told the court the four accused had allegedly caused the death of Mr. Pratt. It is the jury’s job to determine beyond a reasonable doubt whether the accused are responsible.
The DPP’s first witness was Scott Davis, a non-national, resident in the United States. Davis told the court he was in Saint Lucia on January 17, 2014 and with the intention to sail to Grenada, made a stop in Vieux Fort. He said that about 11 pm that day, he was on his vessel watching a movie when he heard loud screams. He heard a mayday call from Magnetic Attraction and spoke to Mrs. Pratt, who said that her husband was missing. Davis said he paddled in his kayak to Magnetic Attraction, where he encountered a dishevelled and bloody Margaret Pratt.
He returned to his kayak and started searching for Roger Pratt, whom he thought at that time had fallen overboard but was not dead. Moments later, Davis testified, he discovered Pratt’s naked body, floating face down a few inches under the water. “I jumped in,” he said. “I swam to him. I rolled him over on his back, pulled his head out the water and yelled his name in his ear. I could not perform CPR in the water so I called for help.” Davis recalled that two other persons arrived in a dinghy from another vessel, pulled Pratt out of the water and began CPR. He returned to Magnetic Attraction, which was “a mess”. He noticed blood in the cockpit and on the floors. Defence attorneys posed no questions to the witness.
Day two of the trial commenced on Wednesday, with Corporal Philip Taylor being summoned to the stand by the DPP. Taylor testified that he has responsibility for the physical examination, photographing, collecting and preserving crime scene exhibits. He recalled that on January 18, 2014 he boarded Magnetic Attraction to examine the scene of a reported homicide. He carried out a visual examination, documented areas of interest by taking photos, and collected exhibits, which were then sealed.
The witness said that on January 20 he visited Victoria Hospital to continue investigations, and subsequently photographed Roger Pratt’s wife. Several photos of the crime scene were showed to jurors including “apparent” blood drops on the ship, a blue bandana, and a pistol grip found at the cabin entrance. Photos were also shown of Mrs. Pratt, with apparent injuries to her face, head and back. The witness was not cross-examined by the defence. The DPP indicated he would further question Taylor at a later stage of the case.
Margaret Pratt was the next witness on the stand. She spent most of the time reliving her husband’s death. The couple had arrived in Rodney Bay on December 31, 2013, having sailed from Martinique. Planning to go on to Grenada, they arrived in Vieux Fort on January 16, 2014 and anchored there. On January 17 they made their way to the mainland via dinghy. As they landed on the dock, a man who identified himself to the witness as “Jeremie” offered to keep an eye on the dinghy. Later the couple returned to the dinghy, gave Jeremie five dollars, and travelled back to their yacht. At about 10 pm they went to bed. All of a sudden they were disturbed by movements on the deck, located above their head.
Margaret Pratt recalled that with her husband leading the way, they went to investigate. The witness recalled hearing Roger say: “Go away, just go away.” She testified that she saw “three men on the stern”. She remembered being grabbed in a headlock, pulled onto the right-hand seat of the cockpit and held down. “I couldn’t move,” she told the court. “At the same time, another man on the other side of the cockpit was punching my head, my face and my upper body. I saw my husband wrestling with another man on the stern. I was screaming and shouting. I couldn’t move and I was being beaten. As he was beating me, he kept saying, ‘Where’s the fucking money?’ I said, ‘There’s no fucking money.’”
Mrs. Pratt said she clawed at a bandana that her attacker was wearing over his nose and mouth. She attempted in vain to stop him from getting to the ship’s salon, but he was able to retrieve her laptop and a handbag. “At that point,” Pratt testified, “I was just interested in survival.”
Mrs. Pratt told the court that “all of a sudden,” someone said something in a language she did not understand, but the result was instantaneous: the beating stopped and the assailants left over the side of the boat. She could not recall how many of them. Noticing that her husband was not onboard, she made a mayday call to nearby ships. Three responded.
She told the court that she noticed a horseshoe buoy from their ship was in the water. A boat returned with her husband’s body and efforts were made to resuscitate him. She recalled holding her husband’s hand and saying, “Stay with us,” as they were transported by ambulance to St. Jude Hospital. At about midnight, as his body was being taken away, Margaret Pratt said farewell to her husband.
The trial continues on Monday.
