Officers charged in beating death granted bail
Canadian’s family plans to launch civil suit
Five Grenada police officers charged with manslaughter in the death of Toronto resident Oscar Bartholomew were granted bail Friday and could be released as early as next week.
Constables Edward Gibson, Shaun Ganness, Ruddy Felix, Kenton Hazzard and Wendell Sylvester have been granted nearly $38,000 bail each, or $100,000 in Eastern Caribbean dollars, the currency in use in Grenada.
Grenada police Supt. Dunbar Belfon said the constables are to remain in custody at the Richmond Hill Prison in Grenada’s capital, St. George’s, until next Friday but would be released once bail conditions are met.
The next trial date would be determined after bail has been decided, Belfon said.
The officers appeared at St. David Magistrate court on Friday for the beginning of a preliminary inquiry. They had first appeared for a preliminary appearance on Tuesday and had been sent back to jail until the Jan. 6 hearing.
Derick Sylvester, the Bartholomew family’s lawyer, told Postmedia News the judge appears to have set bail “at extremely high limits.”
As part of the officers’ bail conditions, Belfon said the five officers are required to submit property documents or land titles to the court at a value of nearly $38,000 for each officer. The officers also must report to authorities once a week and are forbidden from visiting the police station where the incident occurred, he said.
Sylvester said the officers also are not permitted to contact witnesses in the case.
Meanwhile, Sylvester said a lawsuit against the police is imminent. The civil suit can only start 14 days after Bartholomew’s death, which occurred on Dec. 27.
According to Grenada’s civil court
This is a tragedy on all counts, especially for the Bartholomew family GRENADA TOURISM MINISTER PETER DAVID
system, it is the court that decides the sum of a civil suit, not the plaintiff, he added.
The family would be seeking compensation from police for “pain and suffering, wrongful death and special damages they spent on medical and other expenses,” according to Sylvester.
Bartholomew’s wife, Dolette, plans to return to Canada in a week or two, then to go back to Grenada for the continuation of the trial, he said.
Bartholomew’s funeral is scheduled for Monday. The location has not yet been decided.
On Wednesday, Tillman Thomas, Grenada’s prime minister, met with Dolette and Sylvester.
Thomas “expressed his condolences and to indicate to her that the administration of justice will not be interfered with and that (the government) will do all in its power to ensure that the trial and investigation is complete,” Sylvester said.
The five officers have been in police custody since their arrest last week. If found guilty, the possible penalty ranges from a fine to a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Bartholomew, 39, was a resident of Toronto but originally from Grenada. He had been there visiting family over the Christmas holidays and is alleged to have been beaten by police on Boxing Day. He died a day later in hospital.
The Grenada government has stressed the island is still “an extremely safe destination.” In a release posted to the government website on Dec. 31, Tourism Minister Peter David said Grenada remains safe for visitors and that the government intends to keep it that way.
“This is a tragedy on all counts, especially for the Bartholomew family,” David said.
“Like all Grenadians, including all my colleagues in government, we would have preferred this not to have happened to anyone, particularly to a national who was visiting with his wife. But from the perspective of visitor safety, and in comparison to other tourist-dependent nations of the world, Grenada still is — and will continue to be — an extremely safe destination for travellers from around the world.”