AfriKa CRY BLOOD

by TIM SLINGER

Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE Darwin Dottin says he’s willing to meet with the Rastafarian community to discuss any problems the group might be facing.

But he wants them and Barbados alike to know that the Royal Barbados Police Force does not engage in singling out any particular group, regardless of race, colour or creed.

“I want to state categorically that the Police Force does not enforce the law by targeting any groups. We carry out our duties without fear or favour and with sensitivity,” Dottin told the SUNDAY SUN yesterday.

He was reacting to charges from the Rastafarian community that dreadlocked I’Akobi Maloney met his death through police profiling.

On Friday, Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris in ruling that the 23-year-old Barbados Exhibition winner’s death was by misadventure, urged the force to look closely at its relationship with the Rastafarian community, saying there was a high level of mistrust.

To this end, Dottin said the force was willing to meet with the community to discuss any issues of concern. (more…)

by Barry Alleyne

LEAVE RASTA ALONE!

That was the clear battle-cry from the Rastafarian community yesterday, moments after Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris determined that former Exhibition winner I’Akobi Maloney dies by misadventure last year.

Tension reached fever-pitch in the small courtyard of the Coroner’s Court on Roebuck Street at 5 p.m., when grieving mother Marguerita Maloney exited the court, raised her hands on the air, shouted “misadventure”, then crumpled to the ground before berating a number of police officers regarding their conduct when I’Akobi died on June 17 last year at Landlock, St Lucy.

The mother’s cries only fuelled emotions, as I’Akobi’s father David, and his younger brother Mandela, also started to shout at police officers stationed at the court.

“I have pictures of my son’s body, brutalised, manhandled,” she said.

“I call on the ancestors to deal with all the perpetrators… This is only an earth verdict,” she said before collapsing for a second time.

Sergeant targeted

Most of the insults, however, were hurled at Sergeant Wingrove Headley, one of the two officers who were on hand at Landlock, and alleged that I’Akobi suddenly ran away from their custody, and jumped over a cliff, 50 feet to his death.

A stoic Headley stood outside the court for a few minutes while more than 30 Rastafarians shouted accusations at him.

In a corner, the Maloney’s attorney Andrew Pilgrim broke down in tears, then receded to the empty courtroom, as the grieving mother was comforted by supporters.

At the gate of the court, armed members of the Royal Barbados Police Force’s Task Force stood on watch, automatic weapons at the ready in case of trouble. Inside, uniformed cops quickly escorted the coroner to her private office after the verdict, then told the crowd to leave. It was 5:07 p.m.

The Rastafarian members, all decked out in red, helped Marguerita to her feet, but continued to hurl insults, and vowed the movement would continue to seek justice.

“This is not the end. This verdict is not the end. This is just the beginning. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back,” father David screamed, whilst pointing and waving a flag of Ethiopia. (more…)

Marguerita Maloney, mother of I'Akobi Maloney, being held up by supporters as she mourns the verdict of the inquest into her son's death. (Pictures by Donnay Deane)

I’AKOBI MALONEY’S death was a misadventure.

That was the verdict arrived at by coroner Faith Marshall-Harris at 5 p.m. this afternoon in the controversial case of the 23 year-old Rastafarian. a former Barbados Exhibitioner who allegedly jumped off a 50 ft cliff at the secluded land Lock, St Lucy, last July 17, while being escorted to the station by two police officers.

Ruling out an open verdict and death by suicide, the Magistrate surmised that Maloney may have felt some form of harassment from the police officers, especially when they requested that he accompany them to the station and that “he made a sudden dash for freedom”.

The verdict caused an uproar among family and supporters of the Maloney family who gathered in the courtyard.

I’Akobi’s grieving mother, Marguerita Maloney exited the court, raised her hands in the air, shouted “misadventure” then crumpled to the ground before berating a number of police officers regarding their conduct when I’Akobi died on June 17 last year at Landlock, St. Lucy.

The mother’s cries only fueled emotions, as I’Akobi’s father David, and his young brother Mandela, also started to shout at police officers stationed at the court.

ATTORNEYS Andrew Pilgrim (right) and David Comissiong (second right) speaking to Mandela Maloney, brother of deceased I’Akobi Maloney, as a friend and his mother Marguerita Maloney look on.

DID police officers engage in profiling when they encountered I’Akobi Maloney, a six-foot Rastafarian standing alone on a secluded cliff?

Was there some level of aggression or conflict between them and that Rastaman?

Was he pushed or was he trying to escape?

These were scenarios which attorneys for the Maloney family, Andrew Pilgrim and David Comissiong, submitted to coroner Faith Marshall-Harris during their addresses, when the inquest into the 23 year-old man’s death resumed in the coroner’s court yesterday.

They asked the coroner to reject the evidence of the two police officers Sergeant Wingrove Headley and Constable Anthony Walkes who were with Maloney when he allegedly jumped off a 50-ft cliff to his death.

Comissiong told the court that given that the police had received a report about a boat, a Rastaman and drugs in the area that it was fair to assume they went to Land Lock, St Lucy, “all keyed up”. (more…)

A NEW WITNESS took the stand yesterday at the I’Akobi Maloney Inquest at Coroner’s Court.

Shon Boyce, who admitted to being a homosexual from his childhood days said he was introduced to Jason Collymore, a former witness at the inquest, in 2003.

He was introduced to Collymore, he said, and they subsequently got involved in a same-sex relationship where he was the outside man, since Collymore, who works at the Cement Plant, told him that he had a Rastaman and he, Boyce, should never come to the house when the man was there.

He said Collymore lived at White Hall Main Road in an apartment, and he did not know the Rastaman’s name as it was never told to him, but he used to pass a man on the stairway going down smiling as he would be going up. (more…)

THE POLICE INVESTIGATOR who carried out the investigations into the death of I’Akobi Maloney said yesterday he was not concerned that the statements of the two police officers who were with Maloney when he died, were identical.

Assistant Superintendent Curvan Harvey told the coroner’s inquest investigating the young man’s death that he was more concerned about the typographical errors contained in the statements.

At the time he was being questioned by Andrew Pilgrim who is representing the Maloney family. (more…)

Harvey (centre) leaving the inquest yesterday evening followed by Headley (left) and Walkes. Picture by Sandy Pitt.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Curvan Harvey was grilled by attorney Andrew Pilgrim yesterday when he gave evidence at the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Maloney.

ASP Harvey was the senior officer who carried out the investigations into the incident. He was questioned extensively about how he conducted the investigations and the statements he obtained, particularly those from the two police officers, Sergeant Wingrove Headley and Constable Wendell Walkes, who were with Maloney when he allegedly jumped off a 50ft cliff at Land Lock, St Lucy.

He was also criticised by the attorney for failing to carry out a scientific examination of the firearms which were issued to the two officers.

AN ATTORNEY has suggested that police officers who were dispatched to Land Lock, St Lucy on the day I’Akobi Maloney died conspired to say they did not see how he died.

Andrew Pilgrim, who is representing the Maloney family, made this comment after Constables Anderson Ellis and Kevin Boyce said they did not focus on Land Lock on June 17, even though they were each in close proximity to the area.

Ellis said he was dispatched to Cove Bay and that he was focussing on a white boat which was out at sea.

He stated that he heard Sergeant Wingrove Headley transmitting on the VHF radio that he had Maloney in custody but he never looked over to Land Lock which was next to Cove Bay because he was busy looking at the boat. (more…)

CORONER Faith Marshall-Harris said she summoned two employees at the Arawak Cement Plant to give evidence at the inquest into the death of I’Akobi Maloney because she had been receiving anonymous reports that they were involved in a relationship with the deceased.

Process engineers James Walker and Jason Collymore both gave police statements denying that they were involved in a homosexual relationship with the 23-year-old scholar who police say jumped over a cliff to his death on June 17 last year. (more…)

CORONER FAITH MARSHALL-HARRIS again expressed concern about two identical statements given by two police officers who testified on Monday during the inquest into the death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Maloney.

Sergeant Trevor Reece and Constable Sandra Dottin were the two police officers who visited Marguerita Maloney’s home on June 17, to inform her about the death of her son.

When they took the witness stand they each read individual statements which were so identical that it prompted attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim to ask them if they wrote the statements together.

While both officers denied doing so, Coroner Marshall-Harris was very critical about the similarity in police officers’ statements.

“They are identical word for word,” she stated. (more…)

I’AKOBI MALONEY did not sustain a single broken bone after falling 80 feet from a cliff to his death.

But pathologist, Dr Carl Winskog said that was not unusual.

“You would assume there would be broken bones, but that is not a certain fact,” he stated under cross examination by Andrew Pilgrim.

He explained that the absence of broken bones could be for a number of reasons including how the body fell and the surface it fell on. But he admitted that if it was a hard surface like a rock the chances of broken bones would be higher, although he pointed out that the waves could have cushioned the blow to Maloney’s body.

Dr Winskog reported that there was damage to Maloney’s abdomen and he also had a ruptured liver. (more…)

by MARIA BRADSHAW

CORONER FAITH MARSHALL-HARRIS is “desperately searching” for corroborating evidence in the unnatural death of I’Akobi Maloney.

But she will not get it from the two police officers who were the only ones with the 23-year-old scholar when he died.

She made this observation as she conducted an inquest into Maloney’s death on Thursday, interrupting attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim’s cross-examination of one of the police officers, Constable Wendell Walkes. (more…)

by MARIA BRADSHAW

A PSYCHIATRIST who examined a diary entry believed to have been written by I’Akobi Maloney on the day he died has deduced from his writings that he was “troubled”.

However, Dr. Ermine Belle, senior consultant psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Hospital, said she could not say the 23-year-old, who reportedly leapt off an 80-foot cliff to his death, was suicidal. (more…)

THE POLICE OFFICER who dealt with I’Akobi Maloney minutes before he died, said yesterday that he and his colleague discussed what they were going to write in their statements surrounding Maloney’s death.

When Andrew Pilgrim, who is representing the Maloney family, asked Acting Sergeant Walter Headley why he and Constable 1320 Walkes’ statements were identical, Headley  said the two of them “had a discussion”

However, he denied suggestions by Pilgrim that they agreed to write exactly the same words or and that they copied each other’s words. His explanation for the identical statements was that “we saw the same thing”. (more…)

by Barbados Advocate

THE Coroner’s Court enquiring into the death of engineer I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, convenes next Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the locus at Landlock, St Lucy.

This was yesterday stated by Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris at the end of the second day’s hearing at the Coroner’s Court, Roebuck Street.

Maloney, 23, of Reed Street, City, died earlier this year on June 17 at Landlock, St Lucy.

The inquest opened last Monday and so far has heard 13 witnesses including the first of two officers who responded to the call on June 17, acting Sergeant, Wingrove Headley.  Inspector Martin Jones is presenting the witnesses, while attorneys David Comissiong, Andrew Pilgrim and Ajamu Boardi are representing Maloney’s family.

by Heather Greenidge (Advocate)

NEITHER of the two police officers who were first on the scene at Landlock, St. Lucy touched I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney.

That’s according to the evidence yesterday of acting Sergeant Wingrove Headley, who also told the inquest into the death of Maloney that neither he nor colleague, Police Constable Walkes “had any physical contact” with Maloney.

“There was no verbal confrontation with him, we did not push him over and we did not cause him to jump,” the policeman added. (more…)

by Barbados Advocate

WHEN a forensic pathologist performed a post mortem on the body of 23-year-old engineer I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, among other things, his lungs were inflated.

That was te evidence of Dr. Carl Winskog of the Government Forensic Sciences Centre at the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Maloney, formerly of Reed Street, City.

The forensic pathologist said that on June 20, 2008 when he performed the post mortem, he also found blunt trauma to the head, multiple lacerations to the head, arms and legs, and a laceration to the liver. He attributed the cause of death to drowning. (more…)

by Barry Alleyne

THE LEGAL TEAM representing the family of former Barbados Exhibition winner I’Akobi Maloney is exploring the possibility of having his body exhumed, so a secondary post-mortem can be done independently to prove cause of death.

Attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim, who is working in conjunction with David Comissiong, explained yesterday his legal squad was not on a witch-hunt of the Royal Barbados Police Force, but simply seeking to “cover all bases” in determining how the 23-year-old Maloney died.

Maloney died on June 17 this year, a few hours after tendering his resignation at the Arawak Cement Plant in St Lucy, where he was employed as a trainee engineer. (more…)

SEVEN WITNESSES took the stand when the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of I’Akobi Maloney started at the Coroner’s Court in Roebuck Street, St. Michael, yesterday.

Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris also revealed that part of the inquest would include a visit to the scene at Landlock, St Lucy, where Maloney died, and the testimony of a handwriting expert to determine the contents of a diary claimed to have been Maloney’s.

Maloney, 23, was found floating in the water at Landlock on June 17 a few hours after resigning from his job at the nearby Arawak Cement Plant.

Attorneys-at-law Andrew Pilgrim and David Comissiong are representing the Maloney family.

The inquest resumes on Monday.

The Coroner’s Inquest into the death of I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney begins today in the Coroner’s Court, Roebuck Street, St Michael.

Maloney died June 17 at Landlock, St Lucy, where, police have stated, the former engineer jumped to his death. The police have denied they had any physical contact with him.

Since then there has been much concern from the public and Maloney’s family surrounding the circumstances of the former Barbados Exhibition winner’s death, with his family citing what they said were numerous inconsistencies in the police account of what happened on the day of the incident. (more…)

THE POLICE FILE on the death of I’Akobi Maloney is now in the hands of the coroner.

Commissioner Darwin Dottin told the SUNDAY SUN, yesterday, that the probe into the 23-year-old man’s death had been completed and sent to the Coroner, Magistrate Faith Marshall-Harris.

Earlier this month, attorney Andrew Pilgrim, who has been retained by Maloney’s family, said he was not satisfied with the progress into the young man’s death and called for an independent body to handle any information regarding the case.

Maloney, a former Exhibition winner, died on June 17 at Landlock, Cove Bay, St Lucy. Police reports indicated he jumped to his death from a cliff but Maloney’s family has expressed doubt about those reports. (TS)

by Phillippe Aimey (www.nationnews.com)

ATTORNEY ANDREW PILGRIM is still not satisfied with the progress being made in the I’Akobi Maloney investigation.

Speaking to the DAILY NATION yesterday, Pilgrim said although the police had submitted a report to the Attorney-General, an independent body still should be summoned to handle any information regarding the case.

“It is all well and good to say that you have received this report from the police officers but all right-thinking members of any community must recognise that if one group of people do something which is called into question, these people cannot judge themselves.” (more…)

by Phillippe Aimey (www.nationnews.com)

GOVERNMENT has received a special report from the Royal Barbados Police Force regarding I’Akobi Maloney’s death.

But Attorney-General Freundel Stuart isn’t rushing to judgment on the former Exhibition winner’s death on June 17 at Landlock, St Lucy.

A justice committee formed to protest the police’s report, as well as the People’s Empowerment Party’s president David Comissiong, issued statements in July calling on the Commissioner of Police to suspend the officers until the investigation was complete.

“That is not normal procedure. You can only do that if the findings reveal that they would have acted improperly . . . if there is evidence to prove it. Mr Comissiong was not down there as far as I am aware, and none of the people who are shouting were down there,” Stuart told the DAILY NATION. (more…)

by Phillippe Aimey (www.nationnews.com)

THE FAMILY of the late I’Akobi Maloney has secured an attorney.

Maggie Maloney, mother of I’Akobi, who said she had been having difficulty securing a lawyer, has retained the services of attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim. The family has been voicing concerns over the circumstances surrounding the death of their loved one who was a former Barbados Exhibition winner.

“I always bring each case close to home, no one or institution is untouchable and we will be pursuing every available channel until this matter is taken seriously,” said Pilgrim in an exclusive interview with the DAILY NATION. (more…)