“We want justice”

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Parent Category: Jan 2012

Category: Week end Jan 7th, 2012

Published on Monday, 09 January 2012 07:14

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An angry crowd of family, friends and sympathisers of the late Oscar Bartholomew protested outside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday, minutes after five police officers appeared before a City Magistrate Court in connection with his death over the Christmas holiday period.

Led by close family member, political activist, Devon Rachae, a former government senator and Pentecostal Pastor, the crowd chanted, “We want justice”, as they walked down St John’s Street. Numbering close to fifty persons, the crowd left the court compound after Chief Magistrate, Tamara Gill remanded the five police officers to Her Majesty’s Prison on a charge of manslaughter in connection with Bartholomew’s death.

Speaking to THE NEW TODAY newspaper, Rachae said that both the wife and the mother of Bartholomew are still trying to come to terms with his death. He stated that the family is calling on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to change the officers’ charges to Murder and to dismiss the charges of Manslaughter, which carries a lesser sentence. Several defense lawyers in the country have expressed similar sentiments.

A prominent city lawyer stressed that the DPP should have charged the officers with murder and leave it up to a judge in the high court to determine whether the accused persons should face trial on a lesser offence. Rachae told this newspaper it was infuriating and painful as the family watched the officers keep smiling as they made their appearances before the Chief Magistrate.

The political activist claimed that the second autopsy conducted on Bartholomew by Dr. Hubert Daisley, a pathologist from Trinidad & Tobago was more in-depth. Pathologist, Dr. Nicholas Redhead, did the first autopsy. He claimed that Dr. Daisley’s report showed that the deceased suffered numerous broken bones including a broken arm, a broken leg, broken ribs, that both his feet were tied, and his mouth was taped during the assault against him. There has been no official confirmation of Rachae’s assertions.

A third candlelight vigil since the brutal killing of the St David’s born, Canadian citizen was held on Tuesday outside the St David’s Police Station. Another protest is also planned for today (Friday), when the officers are expected to make their second court appearance before the St David’s Magistrate Court.

Bartholomew, a naturalised Canadian citizen, was visiting family in Grenada when he died last week Tuesday. His wife, Dolette Bartholomew, was inside the St. David’s Police Station using the washroom when he had an unfortunate encounter with a female police officer.

While waiting outside, Bartholomew is thought to have mistaken a female police officer for an old family friend. He ran over to her, picking her up in a hug before realising it wasn’t his friend.

According to the family lawyer, Derrick Sylvester, Bartholomew put the woman down after realising the mistake but that other officers considered it an assault on an officer, and took Bartholomew inside the police station where he was beaten.

The five officers charged  for the death of the 39 year old Carpenter of Toronto, Canada are: Police Constables 649 Edward GIBSON; 675 Shaun GANNESS attached to the Traffic and Transport Department, St. George’s; Police Constable (PC) 237 Ruddy FELIX attached to St. David Police Station; Police Constable (PC) 748 Kenton HAZZARD and Rural Constable (RC) Wendell SYLVESTER both attached to the St. David’s Police Station.

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