ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Jun 07 2015 – A Jamaican man has alleged that he was severely beaten by senior police officers while being held at a police station here.
Winston Morris, told the Antigua Observer that he reported to the police last Monday based on conditions of a pending court case.
He said while there he was told that an officer in the Criminal Investigation Department wanted to see him.
“That was it. I asked them what it was about but they wouldn’t tell me,” he said.
Morris said he told police that he had a recent altercation with a customer over money owed for repainting a car.
The Jamaican said the police then took him to the St John’s Police Station where he was asked to remove his shoelaces and hat. They then placed him in a holding cell, which Morris described as “dirty”.
On being placed in the holding area, Morris said he protested by beating on the bars of the cell and demanding to know why he was being held.
According to Morris, an inspector came in and asked him to stop beating the cell as it is government property and he (Morris) is a Jamaican.
Morris admits that he began to curse and alleged that the officers then came into the cell, shackled his hands and feet and began to beat him with the handle of a pickaxe.
Morris told the Antigua Observer an officer even stood on his chest during the beating.
He said the officers took him to the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre close to midnight as other prisoners started to plead for him.
He said following a series of tests he was released.
