Fireman was suspicious of stranger
A fireman who called police after seeing a stranger in the area of his house in Pie Corner, St Lucy, earlier this year, yesterday denied to a coroner’s inquest that his actions were bigoted.
Anthony Collymore, who lives at Glitter Bay, Pie Corner, St Lucy, testified that he did not call 211 simply because he saw a man with Rasta dreadlocks, but because he saw a stranger in an area well-known for illegal drug activity.
Collymore was the fifth person to give evidence on the first day of the coroner’s inquest into the unnatural death of I’Akobi Maloney.
He told the court that on arriving home on June 17, he noticed a barebacked man with dreadlocks stooping about six feet from a cliff’s edge near his home. Using his binoculars, he noticed a white boat out to sea.
The fireman said he called 211 and informed police of what he had seen.
Dubious situation
“It is unusual to see someone in that area. It is an area well-known for drug activity. It is also dangerous, as the cliff collapses from time to time. If I see someone there, it would be unusual, and arouse suspicion,” Collymore testified.
In response to a question from Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris, Collymore said he watched the man on the cliff for about five or six minutes, but he did not see any communication between the man and the white boat out to sea. “I didn’t know the man, but I called the police and requested a rapid response,” he told the court.
According to Collymore, a vehicle arrived ten minutes later with plain-clothed policemen, who approached, and appeared to communicate with the man on the cliff. “They had dialogue for about five minutes, then he started to put on his clothes.”
Collymore said that upon seeing the police communicate with the man, he turned away, and called the police again, thanking them for a quick response.
He told the court that about ten minutes after turning away from his kitchen window, he saw a Barbados Defense Force vehicle speeding in his area, and stopped them, asking what was the rush. “They asked for directions. They told me the man had jumped.”
The witness said he also visited the cliff’s edge and noticed the body in the water. (BA)
Tags: 211, Anthony Collymore, Barbados Defence Force, binoculars, called the police, Coroner, dialogue, dreadlocks, drugs, Faith Marshall-Harris, fireman, inquest, jumped, plain-clothed, police, Rasta, suspicion, white boat, witness