MONTEGO BAY, St James — People’s National Party (PNP) councillor for the Montego Bay South Division, Suzette Brown has called for the revocation of the criminal record for all persons sentenced for small-scale amounts of ganja.

Brown, who earlier this year moved a resolution at the St James Parish Council for the decriminalisation of small quantities of ganja, made the call in light of the death of Mario Deane who was beaten in custody at the Barnett Street police station where he was held after he was charged for possession of a ganja spliff.

“Coming out of this incident involving Mario Deane, I am going to take it a step further and ask the minister for wholesale systematic expungement of the record of persons who have been convicted for small quantities of ganja,” Brown told a recent divisional conference at the International University of the Caribbean in Montego Bay.

She was returned as chairman for the division at the conference.

Guest speaker Peter Phillips, the national security minister, told the conference that Mercia Frazer, Deane’s mother, had asked that his death not be dragged on any political platform. He said that he visited Deane’s family in Rosemount before attending the conference.

Speaking to journalists following the conference, Bunting said he had given assurances to Frazer and other family members that Deane’s death would not be used politically and he also asked for all Jamaicans to adhere to and honour the wishes of the grieving mother.

“The mother in particular requested that we not make this tragedy into a political football and particularly not to deal with it on a political platform and it’s certainly my intention to honour that,” Bunting said.

“… Of course we started with expressing our deepest sympathy of the tragedy that occurred. We tried to answer some of the questions of the various members of the family who were present,” said the security minister.

Frazer, he said, also requested that a complete review would be done into how people are arrested, placed and kept in custody while awaiting charges to be made or waiting to face the courts, to which he said he gave a commitment.

Bunting was accompanied during a private visit to Deane’s family by Member of Parliament for Central St James Lloyd B Smith; Assistant Commissioner of Police for Area 1 Warren Clarke; and Senior Superintendent of Police Egbert Parkins.

Deane, 31, died on August 6, three days after he was severely beaten while in police custody at the Barnett Street police lock-up in Montego Bay.