HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Police Commissioner George Jackson on Friday apologised to a Barbadian restaurateur for the handling of an investigation into a savage attack he suffered at the hands of thugs more than a month ago.
Jackson admitted 54-year-old Victor Alleyne was asked to pick out his assailants from a line-up in which all those taking part could see him, saying the method used in the identification parade was “regrettable”.
Alleyne, who decided to speak out this week about last month’s attack which had previously gone unreported, said the incident had “changed him 100 per cent” and made him question whether he wanted to carry on with his business which he has run for almost 10 years.
“You just don’t expect this kind of thing. I do not feel like being around anyone. Just talking about this makes me sick. I’m not going to be happy in my life until the police catch these guys and prosecute them. But I’m not confident I will see justice served,” he told the Royal Gazette.
Alleyne’s serious facial injuries are eerily similar to those suffered by Rui Medeiros, a 31-year-old Bermudian of Portuguese descent, who was beaten up by a four-man gang outside a Front Street bar after a recent World Cup football match. He also needed plastic surgery.
Alleyne, owner of the popular Spring Garden Restaurant and Bar in Hamilton for nearly 10 years, earlier criticised what he called the “third world” investigation into the assault, recalling how he was taken into a room at Police Headquarters to face 13 people in a line-up.
There was no one-way glass – meaning all those involved could see him.
Jackson did not explain why a one-way mirror was not used but said in a statement that police were now equipping a purpose-built identification suite in which victims and suspects would be kept apart.
“In the interim we have put in place a system where victims who attend identification parades can view the suspects through a one-way mirror,” he said.
“The officers who carried out identification parades in the past without the use of the mirror have been strongly advised that the procedures in place for identification parades must be used at all times.
“The method used in the identification parade after the assault on Mr.
Victor (Rudy) Alleyne is regrettable. I recognise that witnesses must be protected and their identity kept confidential.”
Alleyne, a former cruise ship worker who has lived in Bermuda for 15 years, had his eye socket smashed and his nose broken in three places when four drinkers at his restaurant – named after an area in the Barbados parish of St. Michael – went for him, aiming kicks and punches.
He underwent plastic surgery and now has a metal plate under his left eye, a three-inch scar which may be permanent and double vision.
Jackson said: “I fully understand the effect of facing a possible offender face to face; this in itself adds to the trauma of the victim’s previous experiences with the suspect.
“We remain cognisant of the trauma of facing a possible offender and extend our sincerest apologies to Mr. Alleyne and any other person where the identification process was carried out and procedure was not followed.”
He added that it was Bermuda Police Service’s endeavour to “be fully compliant with current and future legislation introduced in our jurisdiction”.
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