Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 12, 2008 News
As Police up the ante against crime, several allegations of brutality and torture have been surfacing.
The latest allegation comes from a 26-year-old Grove, East Bank Demerara resident, Patrick Watson, who sustained a fractured kneecap and a gaping wound on his foot, which he claims was inflicted by a policeman late last week.
Watson, who could barely stand, accompanied by his mother, visited this newspaper yesterday and revealed the harrowing details of the ordeal, which saw him being placed into the Brickdam Police Station lock-ups despite his obvious injury.
The Police had accused him of attempting to commit a robbery, and had inflicted a severe beating on him with a piece of wood in the full view of members of the public.
Watson, whose father is a retired senior Police officer, told this newspaper that he and a friend were walking along Regent Street when two plainclothes policemen on a motorcycle rode up to them.
He claimed that he and his friend were heading towards a food vendor to purchase food, while another man — who appeared to be drunk — was proceeding in front of them.
According to Watson, one of the policemen approached him and accused him of trailing the intoxicated man with intent to rob him.
“These Police come up and start hitting me, telling me, ‘y’all want rob this guy’. I told them that I just finished working and was going to buy food, but they insisted that we were going to rob the guy,” Watson told this newspaper.
He said that the policemen did not believe him and proceeded to beat him with a piece of wood.
Another man who was nearby reportedly objected to the actions of the Police, and he, too, was taken into custody when a Police vehicle, which was summoned, arrived on the scene.
Watson said that he was taken to the Brickdam Police Station and thrown into the lock-ups, and although he pleaded with a senior officer to be allowed to seek medical attention, he was kept in the slammer for two days. According to Watson, the policemen who had arrested him advised the man who was supposed to be the robbery victim to state that he was robbed of $15,000.
However, the man claimed that he only had $200 in his pocket and refused to go along with the Police’s advice.
Watson was eventually charged and placed before the court for robbery under arms; and ironically, the man whom the Police said he intended to rob did not attend the court hearing.
He has since launched an official complaint with the Police Complaints Authority, and that body has promised to investigate the matter.
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