The stabbing death of a man arising from a dispute over paid sex has raised questions about possible police culpability or negligence.
The man who was killed has not been named by police. But North Coast Times has been told that he is an occasional worker and handyman at a business in Brown’s Town and that he lives in the Orange Hill area.
Police expect to charge a woman, said to be a sex worker, with murder in the incident.
Meantime the Inspectorate of the Constabulary (IOC) headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wray Palmer is investigating police procedures in the incident.
Reports to the North Coast Times are that the woman is alleged to have stabbed the man after he reportedly stole a sum of cash he earlier paid her for an alleged sexual encounter on Wednesday morning, May 24.
The incident, which has been confirmed by the police’s information arm, Constabulary Communications Unit, happened at about 3 a.m. in an area popularly known as ‘Truck Stop’ in Runaway Bay, St Ann.
Information is that the woman reported that she and the man had engaged in a sexual transaction at a cost of $3,000.
However, the woman allegedly claimed that at the end of their transaction the man brandished a knife and took back the money that was paid.
It was at this time that the woman made a report to police officers of robbery committed by the man.
Reports are that two police officers came to the scene and one remained in the car. The officer who had exited was body searching the accused man when the woman pulled a knife and stabbed the man with whom she had the dispute. The stab wound was inflicted in the neck.
People on the scene were stunned and helped the police remove the man to hospital where he was pronounced dead, while the woman was taken into custody.
A senior police officer told The Times: “The policeman didn’t use his training. It is obvious. He could have been killed by the woman.” The officer said the IOC would have to determine whether the police’s action facilitated the murder. “Look, if the man wasn’t been held by the police, he would have gone about his business. Or he would have been watching his back…You have to think about if he would have been alive today.”
In an update in the case on Saturday, head of crime for St Ann, deputy superintendent (DSP) Richard Hilton said the woman was not yet charged as the police were trying to settle legal representation for her.
In relation to the deceased man’s identity, DSP Hilton explained the man has still not been positively identified and they were waiting for the man’s relatives to come forward.
