National Security Minister says Police ‘Working Assiduously’ To Crack Hathaway Murder Case

NATIONAL Security and Home Affairs Minister Hermangild Francis yesterday assured Saint Lucians and the wider world that police are working assiduously to crack the Robert Hathaway murder which occurred last week.

Expressing his sympathies to the family of Hathaway, whom Francis said was a friend, the minister even went as far as opining that tourists are safe in Saint Lucia.

“The police are working assiduously to try and crack this matter. I am not in a position to give you exactly what they are doing. It is unfortunate that something like that can happen,” Hermangild said.

He said that while outside press may give the impression that Saint Lucia is targeting Britons living on the island, such impression is entirely false.

“I do not think that is so. If you look at the incidents that occurred in Saint Lucia, they all have their particular circumstances and we have to take each as they present themselves,” Francis said.

Saint Lucia, Francis said, is not dangerous as some outlets in the British media may claim the country to be.

“When you look at the circumstances, I think our tourists are safe. Bob has been here for a number of years. We are not targeting British individuals who visit us,” Francis said.

When asked about the slow pace of justice in some of the cases of murdered Britons here, Minister Francis said that the judicial system is working and that for anyone to say the justice system does not work means that the person is not being fair.

The Minister had much praise for the local police force, which he said had a better rate at solving crime that of any country in the Caribbean, despite its members’ lack of proper training over the years.

He was also frank in stating that whatever help the country can get to crack the Hathaway case would be accepted, going as far as stating that if British police wants to work side by side with their local counterparts, he would welcome that.