Pair back in court over WPC murder

THE Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Trinidad and Tobago is yet to receive the necessary files to appoint a state attorney to prosecute the pair accused of murdering woman police constable (WPC) Nayasha Joseph.

This was disclosed when the accused, Kenneth Browne and his ex-wife Melissa Browne, reappeared in Port of Spain's Magistrates' Court before Deputy Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle.

The pair are accused of committing the the murder sometime between 8 March and 16 March in Sea lots.

Kenneth Browne, who is also the father of Joseph's four-year-old daughter, is facing an additional charge of illegally disposing of her body. They are both represented by defence attorney Criston Williams.

When the matter was called, police prosecutor Insp Winston Dillon informed the magistrate that the officer who laid the charges needed approximately two weeks to have the file forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The magistrate made a note of the submission before adjourning the matter to 16 May.

WPC Joseph, who joined the Police Service in November 2016, was attached to the Morvant Police Station.

She went missing on 8 March and her body was found by a fisherman in Gulf of Paria on 16 March.

A pathologist was unable to determine the cause of her death.