Ninety per cent of the killings were caused by guns.

Port of Spain headed the murder list with 177 murders coming from that division.

The Western Division followed with 70, Northern Division with 62, the North Eastern Division had 46, Central had 20, South Western had 19 and bringing up the rear was the Eastern Division with 16.

“It was almost as if everyday was a nice day for killing,” one police officer quipped.

The kidnapping toll also increased this year with 239 reported kidnappings, up to Press time, with 120 solved.
Fifty-eight of them were for ransom of which 14 were solved and 43 persons arrested.

Road accidents also jumped higher than last year, with 201 fatal accidents up to Press time.

Over 200 guns were seized, 100 more than last year.

Some of the more gruesome murders included the burning to death of Roland Innis, 38, and his three children, Reena, Raul and Rhonda, at an apartment on Duke Street on February 6.

Radha Ramsaran, 31, of Lopinot, was doused with tar and gasoline in her car on February 7, by her lover, Nagassa Henry, who later committed suicide by drinking a poisonous substance.

Ramsaran’s sister, Seeta Singh, who was pregnant and was also in the car at the time of the incident, also died.

Giselle Frederick was fatally stabbed with a screwdriver and thrown over a cliff on March 26; and the following day, Giselle Grant of Tobago was fatally stabbed by her lover.

On June 14, the body of Stacey Gibbs was found beaten, stabbed, bound and wrapped in plastic in a pit.

However, two of the most gruesome murders took place on July 1, when 15-year-old US citizen Kitty Pepe, who resided in Charlotteville, Tobago, was fatally stabbed and her stomach slashed open like an animal, and the beheading of businessman Edward Koury.

But July 11 around 1 p.m. will go down in history as the day Trinidad witnessed one of the most feared crimes in the world, a bomb attack.

That attack occurred on Frederick Street, Port of Spain, when a bomb went off in a dustbin close to Queen Street, leaving 60-year-old former dental nurse Yvonne Mc Ivor of Arima with one leg. Several other people including nearby vendors were also injured.

Four more bombings took place once a month, follow-ing that first one on Frederick Street.

No one was ever officially charged, even though several young men were held for questioning.

Bakr is before the Port of Spain Magistrate eight Court also charged with sedition, demanding with menace the property of Noble Khan, with the intent to steal same, demanding with menace the property of members of the Muslim community, who are not members of the Jamaat, and endeavouring to provoke the breach of the peace.