An inmate accused of punching a police constable told the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court last week that it was the law enforcer who first punched him twice because he refused to take off his underpants.

The accused, Chris Barrette, who appeared to be in his 50s, told the court that the policeman wanted him to get naked so that he could search him for a cellular phone, but acted surprised when Senior Parish Judge Judith Pusey told him that the constable had a right to tell him to get naked because the inmates are hiding the phones in their body cavity.

Barrette was arrested and charged with introducing contraband into a penal institution, abusive language and unlawful wounding.

The court heard that on the day of the incident, Barrette attacked the constable and hit him all over his body and called him “b… boy” when the policeman went to search his cell for contraband at the Half-Way-Tree Police lock-up.

But this was denied by Barrette.

The accused said that the constable went into his cell searching for contraband and told him to step outside of the cell.

However, he said that when he went outside of the cell, the detector that the policeman had kept going off and he told the constable that it was because of a piece of wire that he had in his mouth. He said the constable told him to go into the bathroom.

“So when him go inna the bathroom, him see a phone on the ridge and ask me how it reach there so, and me ask him if him never see the phone when him come in,” Barrette said.

“He said to me, ‘take off you underpants’, and me say take off mi underpants fi wha,” he continued.

According to the accused, at that time he was wearing two underpants and a shorts and he took off the shorts, and one of the underpants but told the policeman that he would not be taking the other one off.

“But, him say if me don’t do it wha an’ wha him ago do to me and started telling me bad words,” Barrette said.

“You know why the officer wanted to you to do that? It’s because that is where the phones are being stored these days,” the judge remarked.

But Barrette in response said: “I didn’t know that.”

In addition to that, the accused told the court that he was defending himself when he assaulted the constable.

“He is the one that punch me two times and is when I get the last punch, I punched him back,” Barrette said.

However, the magistrate told him that he should not have retaliated; rather, he should have lodged a complaint against the policeman who she said, on the other hand, has a defence of subduing a prisoner to explain his attack.

“He is the one who punch me,” Barrette insisted.

“But you can’t punch him back,” the judge replied.

Barrette then reported that he was being threatened and jeered by the investigating officer, who he said keeps following him around the cell.

“That is still happening? I know all about that so officer if you jeering him stop it,” the judge instructed, before Barrette was remanded for trial on September 2.