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Murder accused Veron Primus. (iWN file photo)
Murder accused Veron Primus. (iWN file photo)
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Special measures will be put in place on Friday as the court hears the testimony in the Sharleen Greaves murder preliminary inquiry, of the woman who has alleged that the accused killer, Veron Primus, held her captive for four months.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias, on Friday, granted an application by the prosecution for the woman, Mewanah Hadaway of Vermont, to testify by live video link from a remote, undisclosed location.

She will be the last witness to testify in the preliminary hearing — which has been going on for more than a year — in which the court will decide if there is enough evidence to send Primus for trial before a judge

Hadaway will testify in camera under the provisions of the Witness (Special Measures) Act.

In making the application, Sejilla McDowall of the National Prosecution Service told the court that Hadaway will require special consideration, adding that she will be required to be in a private location and testify via live link.

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She made the application after the prosecution service received a report from psychiatrist, Karen Providence, pointing out that Hadaway is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — supposedly as a consequence of her alleged abduction by Primus.

“She will be compromised in terms of emotional and psychological state, if she is to come into court to give evidence,” McDowall said.

Primus, who does not have counsel in the matter, told the court that the only objection he has to the application was that it says, “Mewanah Hadaway is the ex-girlfriend of the defendant Veron Primus.”

Primus told the court that this is prejudicial since it presents the alleged relationship as a fact.

The accused murderer has also been charged with a number of offences relating to his alleged abduction of Hadaway and those matters are being heard in camera before the Family Court — as is the case with all matters there.

In further grounding his objection, Primus told the Serious Offence Court that the Family Court has not had a chance, as yet, to pronounce on that allegation.

He said the phrasing of the application suggested that there is some history involving him and Hadaway.

The chief magistrate, in response, told the defendant that while she agrees with his objection, it is also a good thing that her court will not decide the Family Court matters.

She told Primus that the Serious Offences Court is not interested in what might have transpired between him and Hadaway but about the closeness and intimacy of their relationship.

“If I were convicted in a court of law regarding something like that, that statement will be valid,” Primus further told the magistrate of the line in the application that he found objectionable.

The court, however, noted that the overall application speaks of an allegation, but the magistrate agreed with Primus’ objection, saying, “It is a valid note to put everything in context. The court has noted that.”

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The deceased, Sharlene Greaves.

The magistrate granted the application “in light of the medical report. This sheds a different light on things,” she said, adding that she is satisfied that it will not be prejudicial against Primus.

Friday’s application is the second that the prosecution made under the Witness (Special Measures) Act to have Hadaway testify in court.

The first, which was made in August, was withdrawn after Senior Prosecutor, Adolphus Delplesche, asked the court for an adjournment to last Friday to have a psychiatric evaluation of Hadaway.

In April 2016, police cracked the case of Greaves’ murder while investigating Hadaway’s alleged abduction.

Greaves, 33, was killed sometime between Nov. 12 and 13, 2015 in her office at the former Highway Trading Building in Arnos Vale.

Her body was discovered on Nov. 13, 2015, sometime after police received a call from a female, the previous evening, saying that someone had broken into her office in that vicinity.

One reply on “Special measures as key witness testifies in Sharleen Greaves murder PI”

  1. I wonder how long this guy is going to be able to drag this out? After it does go to trial, what next? Will he be extradited to the USA to answer for his crimes there?
    It seems to me that although we have a small population, we have a lot of violently sick people. Think of all the murderers that have never been caught.

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