MANDEVILLE, Manchester – Jeremy Chen, the 34-year-old managing director of the SuperPlus Food Store at Park Crescent in Mandeville, and two of his managers were among five men denied bail when they appeared in court here yesterday, accused of assaulting and badly beating two young employees of the store.

Normally sedate Mandeville was in an uproar for several hours as hundreds of people converged on the old courthouse at the centre of the town and also at the store. Police said the crowds were “noisy but orderly”.

SuperPlus, Jamaica’s biggest supermarket chain, closed its outlets in Mandeville shortly after mid-day and a statement from Wayne Chen, chairman and CEO of the company and older brother of Jeremy Chen, described the incident as “unfortunate and most regrettable”. He promised full co-operation with the police investigation.

Chen apart, those facing charges are:

. Ainsley Henry, the 35-year-old manager of the store;

. Ryan Lindo, 27, the assistant manager;

. Garth Fagan, a 34-year-old driver; and

. Fabian Foster, 33, who is described as a contractor employed to the store.

They were charged with kidnapping, illegal possession of a firearm, unlawful wounding, assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and assault at common law when they presented themselves to the police in the company of their lawyer yesterday morning. Having been denied bail when they appeared before Resident Magistrate Marva McDonald-Bishop yesterday, the men could remain locked up until they return to court on February 8.

The arrests followed allegations that at about 7:30 pm on Monday, two young SuperPlus employees Renardo Dawes, 20, and Michael Sinclair, 18 were accused of stealing. They were allegedly taken to Chen’s home in Mandeville where the two men were allegedly tied up and beaten. A dog was allegedly set upon one of the men who was bitten. Dawes, suffering from severe back pains, was carried to and from court yesterday.

A large crowd with some people carrying placards bearing slogans such as “we want justice” was outside the courthouse at yesterday morning’s session, which saw McDonal-Bishop staying her hand until the afternoon session at 2:00 pm in order to read the contents of the police file.

Angry crowds then converged on SuperPlus stores, triggering their closure.

When the court reconvened, the resident magistrate refused the bail application by lawyer Norman Godfrey. The magistrate noted that the investigation was incomplete. She suggested that other charges were in order; that statements from policemen who took the victims from Chen’s house were not in the file as yet and that two other persons alleged to have been involved in the beating should be apprehended and brought before the court.

There was some suggestion yesterday that the police may have moved too hastily in taking the accused men to court before more thorough investigations.

But senior policemen, who declined to be named last night, noted that not only did the law stipulate that arrested persons should be brought before the court as quickly as possible but that “in the immediate circumstance” yesterday, it was imperative to have quick action in order to maintain public order.

“We are convinced that if we had not acted as we did, they (protestors) would have burnt down Mandeville,” one investigator told the Observer.

By the time bail was denied and the accused men escorted to the police vehicle for the short drive from the courthouse to the police lock-up, the crowd’s anger had been replaced by an almost carnival atmosphere.

People laughed and shouted taunts as they crowded around the vehicle which was under heavy police escort.

“Mi never see dis inna Mandeville yet,” shouted one man as he ran beside the slow-moving vehicle.

Police investigators told the Observer that they expected to press further charges and that two other “unidentified” men, said to have been also involved in the beating, were being sought. Investigators said that when apprehended those two would have to face identification parades since the victims were seeing them for the first time at the time of the beating.

Meantime, the SuperPlus statement released by Wayne Chen noted that the chain “. as standard policy, treats with utmost importance, the welfare and well-being of its employees. The organisation does not condone, encourage or engage in any form of abuse of its employees.

“SuperPlus Food Stores intends to co-operate fully with the police in this matter in order to speedily conclude their investigations. SuperPlus Food Stores has a long history of excellent employee/management relations. Depending on the outcome of these investigations, SuperPlus Food Stores will do what is necessary to ensure that its substantial record of employee development and welfare is maintained.

– myersg@jamaicaobserver.com