Margaret Berry's blouse is being torn off as she receives a beating from members of the Island Special Constabulary Force in Half-Way-Tree Wednesday evening.

The Professional Standards Branch (PSB) of the police force yesterday started a probe into the beating of a woman by members of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) in Half-Way-Tree Wednesday evening, even as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller requested a full report of the incident from Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas.

At the same time, Margaret Berry, 42, the woman who received the beating, and her husband, Leroy, 38, who was also beaten, told the Observer yesterday morning that they were demanding compensation or the dismissal of the cops involved in the incident.

"The police never have no right fi come handle we like that," Mrs Berry said. "Dem beat me and me husband up like we ah dem pickney, and come humiliate me inna the busy road a Half-Way-Tree. We want compensation or the policemen fired."

Head of the PSB, Assistant Commissioner Novelette Grant and her detectives have already interviewed and processed the Berrys, the Constabulary Communication Network said yesterday, and Commissioner Thomas, who is off the island on official police business, has been fully briefed on the matter.

The Berrys, who live in Arnett Gardens, say they have been charged with assaulting the police and resisting arrest. They are scheduled to appear in court on May 18.

According to the Berrys, the incident started when two policemen approached her and her husband while they were in their Toyota Corolla motor car at a gas pump in the Esso Service Station across from the transportation centre now under construction in Half-Way-Tree.

Margaret Berry is being beaten by members of the Island Special Constabulary Force in Half-Way-Tree Wednesday evening.

One of the cops, she said, accused her husband of operating his car as an illegal taxi.

Mr Berry told the Observer that the policemen asked for his car documents as well as his driver's licence.
"I told them that I was not running taxi, but him never believe me. Him go tek out de key outta de ignition, and call a wrecker fi tow away me car. me insist seh him caan do that," Mr Berry said.

The discussion, he said, got heated and one of the policemen began to beat him with a baton. His wife then alighted from the passenger seat and demanded that the police stop beating her husband.

"Me jump between me husband and de police fe try and stop dem from licking him any more," Mrs Berry said. "Same time when me look roun', more police come down and start fe throw lick pon me. Dem lick me all over me body, see it deh, dem beat me like seh me a dem pickney," she added, showing her bruised wrist and hand.

Mr Berry said that during the tussle, he managed to recover the car keys and drove off. The cops then grabbed Mrs Berry and proceeded to beat her all over her body with batons and their fists.

She managed to escape a few times, but was caught and pepper sprayed by a policewoman.

The melee almost sparked a mini riot by angry citizens who surrounded the police as they tried to force Mrs Berry into a police vehicle. The crowd slashed three of the tyres on the vehicle and threw bottles and stones at the police, while hurling insults at them.

In response, the cops pulled their firearms and threatened to discharge them.

"How people fi love the police?" one woman asked. "One of them lick the woman in her face."

The mob only calmed down after Detective Sergeant George Hall intervened and prevented the police from shoving Mrs Berry into another vehicle. He was on the verge of tears as he used his cell phone to report the incident, apparently to a police station.

"She is a woman, they should never have treated her like that," he said. "She could have been my mother."
Nevertheless, Mrs Berry was taken to the Half-Way-Tree Police Station.

Mrs Berry said she visited a private doctor yesterday and received medication as well as a statement recording her injuries.

"The incident meant great embarrassment for me and my husband, even more so because, not only were they accusing us of operating an illegal taxi, they were also accusing us of not being married," she said.

"Dem nuh have no respect fi woman, look how dem do me inna public. Tear off me clothes an' a expose me, a what kind of police dat?" she said.

She claimed that she was also verbally assaulted by another policeman who had arrived on the scene late and who, apparently not knowing that she was already pepper sprayed, told his colleagues to spray her.

"Imagine, woman is the prime minister, and dem a go deal wid me like seh me a nuh somebody. Where is the respect fe woman?" she asked.

Mr Berry in the meantime, said that he will be pursuing legal action against the cops and will also take the case to the Police Public Complaints Authority.

"I want the whole world fe see how dem police yah weh seh dem serve and protect, deal with decent people," he said.
"What right do citizens have, when if you tell the police the truth dem tek it and beat you on top of it. Right now we want some justice out of this," Mr Berry said.

On Wednesday, after the incident, Commander William Malabver of the ISCF denied that the police had beaten Mrs Berry. He said that in order to restrain her they had no choice but to "use the baton on her".

- Couple interviewed by Paul Clarke

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