Granny’s toe crushed in security operation
A99-year-old resident of Peggy Barry district in Grange Hill, Westmoreland, lost one her little toes after it was crushed by a door, which was allegedly kicked down by the security forces last week.
“My grandmother was looking out and she telling them say is an old woman alone in the house, but they still kick it (door) off,” Lalesa Grant told the WESTERN STAR.
A joint operation between the Jamaica Defence Force and the Jamaica Constabulary Force was conducted in the Peggy Barry district last Wednesday. As a result, 56 persons were detained. Nine persons of interest were among those arrested and taken to the Corporate Area to be processed. They include seven males, six of whom the police said are members of the King Valley gang and two females who cops say are involved with gang members.
FORCED TO PAY
But while the operation is being hailed as a success by C-TOC, the elderly Matilda Mannings was forced to pay with one of her toes that had to be amputated.
“My grandmother nuh deh inna no good condition. She is 99 and she has really bad arthritis and she just debating on the toe, and right now, the foot swell more. Her pressure is high, and she is taking it hard. She is shaken up and traumatised,” Dawn Warren, another of Mannings’ grandchildren, said.
Grant, a great granddaughter, said that two of her relatives are among the 56 persons detained in the operations. She said that the police took the elderly Mannings to hospital after she called the Grange Hill and Savanna-la-Mar police stations to report the matter.
She said the extent of Mannings’ injuries was revealed after she visited to the doctor.
“The little toe on the left foot ... It mashed up and it is amputated. A just the little skin left on it. The doctor said them a guh cut it off and just done with it because it nuh make sense she keeps it because it amputated,” another relative said.
Assistant Superintendent Dahlia Garrick, head of the police Corporate Communications Unit, said the police were aware of an accident that took place in Grange Hill last week that left an elderly woman hurt.
“C-TOC has confirmed that someone was accidentally injured during the operation, but they don’t know that an amputation took place,” said Garrick. She said that the Westmoreland police are carrying out further investigations.