MARIO DEANE TRIAL
‘I was too traumatised’
Witness distances himself from elements of INDECOM statement
Published:Wednesday | April 23, 2025 | 12:10 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A former inmate at the lock-up where Mario Deane was beaten on August 3, 2014, told the court yesterday that he did not review his statement to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) when its investigators met with him earlier this year.
The inmate is the prosecution’s eighth witness in the trial of Corporal Elaine Stewart and constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, who are facing charges in relation to Deane’s death.
The witness made the admission under cross-examination from defence attorneys Martyn Thomas and Dalton Reid while maintaining that the statement contained declarations falsely attributed to him.
Responding to questions from Reid, the witness said that INDECOM investigators, who previously recorded his statement on August 11, 2014 – eight days after Deane was beaten – visited him some time between January and February this year in relation to the same statement.
WITNESS STATEMENT
“Am I correct that the persons from INDECOM showed you the statement you gave on August 11, 2014 and they read it back to you?” asked Reid.
“They just asked me certain specifics of the statement. They read out certain specifics of the statement,” the witness answered.
“And you did not ask to read the statement yourself?” Reid asked.
“No, Sir. I was too traumatised,” the witness replied. “There were two statements. In one of the statements, there were a lot of inconsistencies that I had to correct.”
The witness also clashed with Reid over which of the cells at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up he was in at the time of the incident. He maintained that he was in the third cell on the ground floor, next to the one in which Deane was beaten, despite Reid pointing out that his witness’ statement to INDECOM stated he was in the block’s first two cells.
‘I DO NOT REMEMBER’
“Having read the statement, do you agree with me that when you got to the Barnett Street lock-up, you were put in Cell One and Cell Two, and at the time of this incident, you were in Cell Two?” asked Reid.
“I do not remember being placed in either Cell One or Cell Two. That is what the statement says but that is not what I said,” the witness answered testily.
“Let me put it to you that you would not have been in Cell Three because that cell was not working and no prisoners were in there,” Reid challenged the witness.
“Sir, you were not there,” the witness said impatiently, triggering laughter in the courtroom.
Meanwhile, during his cross-examination of the witness, Thomas challenged earlier testimony that he saw Stewart giving a bucket, soap, and a mop to another inmate to clean the cell after the beating. However, the witness insisted that he was telling the truth.
The trial will continue today before presiding High Court Justice Courtney Daye.
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, in relation to Deane’s death on August 6, 2014, three days after he was beaten. Stewart is also charged with perverting the course of justice, under allegations that she ordered for the cell where Deane was beaten to be cleaned before the arrival of the INDECOM investigators.