Auxiliary Police Officer at Serious Offences Court passes

He was described as a man who always sported a smile, even on a rough day at the Serious Offences Court.{{more}}

Sadly, the smile that auxiliary police officer Alban Gabriel wore is now but a memory etched in the minds of his acquaintances.

Gabriel died on Saturday, March 30, after collapsing in Barrouallie.

SEARCHLIGHT was not able to ascertain the cause of death.

Reports are that the Barrouallie resident had just returned from a fishing trip and while hauling the boat on the sand, he collapsed.

He was rushed to the the Barrouallie Health Clinic and then transferred to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, where he died upon arrival.

Gabriel is said to have enlisted in the Auxiliary Police Force more than 10 years ago. He worked in Bequia, at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court and his final stop, the Serious Offences Court.

Prosecutor at the Family Court Inspector Nigel Butcher described the Gabriel as a person who got along well with everyone.

Butcher, who prosecuted at the Serious Offences Court for a number of years, said for the time he worked alongside Gabriel, he never saw him get upset.

“He was always jovial and he was really good in humour. A very simple person. He will be sadly missed by all of us,” Butcher commented.

Current prosecutor at the court Inspector Adolphus Delpesche described Gabriel as a man who was not easily bothered.

“He was one of the persons you could have sent anywhere and he didn’t frown. He was mannerly, disciplined, always smiling. I never see him vex yet….,” he said.

Having known Gabriel for the past four years, Delpesche disclosed that he felt an “emptiness” inside of him on Wednesday morning when he came to court and Gabriel wasn’t there.

“This morning when I go in the court and I look across where he usually stands, when I would send him to get some mints and he wasn’t there, I felt it. That’s the truth. Knowing that he isn’t there feels like a void. May his soul rest in peace. He was a good man,” Delpesche said.

Corporal Gideon Black of the Serious Offences Court also expressed sympathy at the passing of Gabriel.

“I worked with him for a long time and he was a good friend and a good man to work with. We always made jokes and I never saw him get upset…,” Black said.(KW)