Accused of Illegal Communication with a Detainee: Former Police Officer Gary Kevin Joumont Given the Benefit of the Doubt

Accused of illegally communicating with a detainee, former police officer Gary Kevin Joumont has been given the benefit of the doubt due to lack of evidence. On October 30, 2025, the intermediate court granted Joumont this benefit after it was alleged that he had communicated on three occasions in 2015 with a detainee while serving as a "Criminal Field Intelligence Officer."

Gary Kevin Joumont, a 44-year-old resident of Albion, pleaded not guilty to the charge of unlawful communication with a detainee. He was accused of having illegal communication via a mobile phone with Gerald Stephan Prosper, who was serving his sentence at Beau-Bassin prison. The alleged offenses took place on February 19 and May 30, 2015.

The mobile phone was seized from a prisoner named Samuel Volbert on January 15, 2016, at Beau-Bassin prison. Volbert claimed that the phone belonged to Gerald Stephan Prosper and confirmed that Prosper was also detained at Beau-Bassin.

In his verdict, Magistrate Prithviraj Balluck considered the testimony of Detective Inspector (DI) Sumun from the Central Criminal Investigation Department (CCID). The magistrate noted that the witness could not specify when the phone entered the prison, nor could he identify its location or possession during the alleged dates.

In court, DI Sumun confirmed that a statement had been taken from Gerald Stephan Prosper, who claimed not to know Gary Kevin Joumont and stated that he had never been an informant for the police. Prosper also denied having communicated with the former police officer during his detention. DI Sumun stated that his investigation did not establish any communication between the two men.

On the other hand, detainee Samuel Volbert remained silent when questioned about the phone in court. He admitted to being detained at Beau-Bassin prison in 2016 but could not recall the exact period. The magistrate concluded that there was no evidence to determine if the mobile phone was inside the prison on February 19 and May 30, 2015, or elsewhere.

Additionally, no evidence was presented to indicate the exact period of Gerald Stephan Prosper's detention at Beau-Bassin. The prosecution only suggested that "it is only suspected through intelligence sources that Gerald Stephan Prosper was, at a point in time, in possession of a phone (...) when he was detained at Beau-Bassin prison." However, the magistrate stated that "suspicion is no substitute for proof," leading to his decision to grant the benefit of the doubt to Gary Kevin Joumont and dismiss the charges against him.

It is worth noting that this former police officer was sentenced to eight years in prison on March 27, 2025, for conspiracy. He was accused of conspiring with an individual named Geoffrey Kurson Imbe to transport Rs 3.7 billion worth of drugs, including heroin and hashish on April 28, 2021.