BLACK AND BLUE
by ANTOINETTE CONNELL
A Wildey, St Michael family is crying racism over the beating of a 15-year-old boy in a nearby well-to-do neighbourhood.
The incident happened last week Friday night in Highgate Gardens, St Michael, after which police charged the youngster with having a pair of scissors and trespassing.
But while the youngster was remanded to the Government Industrial School until October 25 on the first charge, the trespassing charge was dismissed after the information revealed he was on a public road.
His mother is not pleased with the way her son was treated after he attempted to take a short-cut through the area, which has one vehicular entrance.
She produced pictures of the teenager taken soon after police released him from custody on Saturday showing his swollen face and right eye, a missing tooth and scratches about his neck.
The mother said that neither she nor her daughter recognised the boy at first.
"This is not right," she said.
She said police telephoned requesting her to come to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital that Friday after 9 p.m. but after spending the day on the dialysis machine and being alone with her grandchildren, she could not get there.
Next day, upon seeing her son, the mother questioned the police about his condition and was told he was handed over with the injuries and they took him to the hospital.
Her son in turn told her that while walking through Highgate Gardens with a friend heading to Brittons Hill, a Caucasian man pulled up in a car questioning them. He said he did not run because he had done nothing wrong but the other boy fled upon seeing that the man had a gun.
It was then the man shouted for someone and announced that "'he had some black ass to kick'" the mother reported. From there her son recounted being tied up, punched, kicked, having his head banged into a guardwall and being spat on.
At one point, according to her, the man called him a "black nigger" and accused him of stealing his puppies. When the police arrived and searched his haversack they found a pair of scissors used by the boys to punch coconuts the day before.
"This is racism. I didn't know that racism is still around, and this is just not right," the mother told the Saturday Sun.
She has already contacted a lawyer to deal with the matter and also made an official report to the police about what she considers to be an excessive beating motivated by prejudice.
Police confirmed that they are investigating an assault report arising out of the incident. (AC)
http://www.nationnews.com/story/315600380461773.php 
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