Two men said yesterday that they were badly beaten by joint services ranks at their Nottinghamshire, Linden home, arrested and then released.
Police in a press release issued yesterday evening said the men were in police custody assisting with investigations into the discovery of an unlicensed 12-gauge shotgun and a quantity of marijuana at a house at Nottinghamshire around 23:45 hrs on Thursday. However, when this newspaper spoke with the men at the Linden Hospital Complex, they were with their relatives seeking medical attention and were not under police guard.
According to the men who chose not to reveal their identities, around 1.30 am on Thursday, they were asleep when they heard heavy banging at the door of the house. One of the men is the occupant of the house and other is friend of his who was spending the night.
“I got worried thinking it was thief trying fuh come into de house,” the occupant said. His friend said he peered through the window and “I get really confused when I see de yard full with soldiers.”
They said that as the knocking continued they heard a voice say: “police open de @#$$^@ door”. But before they could have responded, the door was kicked open, and the joint services ranks who entered immediately dealt them several lashes about their bodies with a length of wire.
The men said officers then forced guns into their mouths, saying they were going to kill them if they didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear.
The beating continued, the men said as they were dragged out of the house, down a track, through a creek and finally handcuffed and thrown in the back of a 4×4 pick-up.
They said they were taken to the police station where the whipping continued as they were being asked about the whereabouts of several persons including a Jamaican. They were also asked about “ganja farms”, the men said adding that throughout the ordeal, they repeated that they did not have any information in relation to the questioning.
Prior to being released, the men said, they were given “a paper” and told to take it to the hospital and return after having it signed, by medical authorities.
“Dey tell we fuh tell de hospital that some men beat we up and dey even tell me fuh call meh mudda and tell she dat some man beat me up.”
According to the man, who was visiting the occupant of the house, one of the officers told him that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
On arriving at the hospital, the men said, they had to wait a very long time to receive medical attention since practitioners were busy attending to the injured soldiers from the Amelia’s Ward accident.
