JAZZ HITS A WRONG NOTE IN ST LUCIA
By Christine Larbey of the St Lucia Star

Police Commissioner Ausbert Regis. Will the higher-ups in the police force respond to this doctor’s claims?

A horrifying ordeal for a local medical doctor began the minute he and his wife, also a doctor, tried to leave the Mindoo Phillip Park after the official opening of this year’s jazz festival, held on Friday May 5. In an interview with the STAR on Thursday the doctor told this reporter, that his wife, a female colleague and another friend had gone to the park to enjoy the festivities. “We really enjoyed the show,” said the doctor. “It was fantastic. There were some great performances by the artists.”

However, things took a turn for the worst when the four tried to leave. “It was approximately 12:45am. We all proceeded to exit the field,” said the doctor. “I noticed the larger gates were not open. In the middle of the stands there is a small gate. We used this entrance when we came in. When we got to the small gate other people were also trying to get out. Two police officers were stationed at the entrance. One was dressed in an SSU camouflage uniform. The other was in plain clothes.

It was getting a bit chaotic with people trying to get out so we decided we would go back onto the field. Then we found ourselves stuck in the middle of the crowd which by now was pushing and shoving both from the front and the back.” The doctor said his group suddenly found themselves caught up in the middle of a “melee.” “It was awful,” he said. “There were men rubbing themselves up on women, squeezing their butts. Others were grabbing them. I saw other men trying to whine up on any woman they saw. It was total chaos. I was becoming increasingly fearful. It was pretty scary for my wife and the other female doctor.

What I really couldn’t understand was that the police started pushing people back in. What was happening was that people were trying to get out of the stadium through the gate while the police were pushing people back in!” “My wife was behind me. Our friend was behind her. I decided to go to the front. I told the ladies to grab onto my shirt so that we could form a line and go out of the entrance together. When I got out of the gate they were not behind me. I couldn’t see any of them. Then I heard my wife scream. I went back to the gate. I was afraid that somebody had hurt her. She’s short. I couldn’t see her. At the gate I held onto one of the posts with my right arm. I tried to retrieve my wife and the lady doctor from the raging crowd.

Then from out of the blue I felt someone yank the loose end of my shirt and shout ‘get the f. . .k out of here.’ Before I could turn around I felt a punch to my lower back. I realized the person who had punched me was a big guy. At the time I was still trying to get my wife out.” He went on: “What I couldn’t understand was that standing right there watching was the SSU officer. He did nothing. It all happened so fast. I tried pulling my wife out. The next thing I knew I was down on the ground. I got two or three more punches to my right shoulder which resulted in immediate dislocation.” He continued: “I was on the ground writhing around in pain. I was in so much pain but this guy continued to punch me.

I was trying to protect my dislocated shoulder. I felt several punches to the back, to my neck. I started to wriggle away from him. People gathered around and started shouting at the SSU officer saying that I was a doctor. Then my wife came. She then left and came back saying that the female doctor had been punched in the head by the same guy and had fallen back into the crowd and was semi-conscience.” The doctor said he demanded that the SSU officer tell him who had assaulted him and the other doctor. “The SSU officer came over and told me that the person who had punched me to the ground, dislocating my shoulder, was in fact a police officer in plain clothes. He refused to give me his name.” If that wasn’t bad enough the doctor said the emergency services were not contacted by the police.

“The SSU officer should have called for an ambulance. Instead he fled along with the plain clothed officer. Somebody else called the ambulance. It never came. All night long one had been stationed on the field. So why didn’t it come? I had to be transported to hospital in the back of a police van. I asked him to tell me the name of the officer who had punched me. He said he had no idea what had happened but to his knowledge there had been no plain clothed officers on duty that night. Because of the chaos and the traffic it was taking so long to get to Victoria Hospital. There was no way the police van could get through. Even with the sirens blasting there was no room to get through the streets.

I was in terrible pain. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to get my shoulder put back into place. That job was left to my wife and the lady doctor who did it without analgesic. The pain was terrible, excruciating.” The doctor said he eventually received treatment at the Victoria Hospital. By then it was 3am. “From the hospital I went to CID to make a report,” said the doctor. “The officer there listened to my complaint and wrote something down. He never asked me to sign anything. He then referred me to Marchand Police Station. I went home and then went to the Marchand sometime around 11am. I spoke to an officer. Again he scribbled something down. Again I was not asked to sign anything.

He referred me to the Police Complaints Unit. I went there on the Monday morning and made a complaint. Nothing was taken down in writing. From there I went to see Minister Damian Greaves. He promised a full-scale investigation. Then I went to see the Assistant Police Commissioner in charge of crime Hermangill Francis. He advised me to go back to the Police Complaints Unit. I went back. Finally a report was completed. Again a full investigation was promised. On Monday last week Mr Francis telephoned to say that an inspector had been put in charge of the matter.” No surprise, the doctor hasn’t heard a word since. The doctor said he is totally dissatisfied with how the police are handling the matter.

“How can police officers investigate other police officers?” he asked. “The fact is I could have been anybody. The police officer that punched me to the ground never saw my face. He did everything behind my back. I could have been tourist. The attack by the officer was totally uncalled for and unjustified. He never spoke to me. He just attacked. It was an unprovoked. Then you walk away and leave the person on the ground in their misery? To cap it all the ambulance never came. What if I had been stabbed or shot by someone? I would have died. Then they would have blamed the hospital for incompetence.”

The doctor went on: “This is just one incident that took place at the opening of jazz. I can tell you, had there been a major incident with mass casualties there is no way the authorities could have handled it.” Finally the doctor said he wanted the police officers involved in the incident to be answerable for their actions. “I find it absolutely ridiculous that the police investigator can’t find the officer who did this to me. Ironically, the St Lucia Tourist Board had asked the doctor to volunteer his services, should they be needed at Pigeon Island jazz weekend.

“I was to have been at the Gros Islet Polyclinic for that period. I was more than happy to help. Unfortunately I couldn’t do it because some police officer had taken it upon himself to seriously injure me.” The doctor said it was inevitable that he would have to undergo surgery to repair his damaged shoulder. “The injury has left me unable to do anything very much. I can’t do examinations or anything and performing any type of surgery is out of the question.”

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