VICTORIA TOWN, Manchester — Mourners at the thanksgiving service of 61-year-old Mandeville mob victim Chieftin Campbell remained in shock and disbelief on Saturday as they continued to question the May 6 attack on the man they described as a well-respected and dedicated resident of Victoria Town in southern Manchester.

Campbell was beaten to death by a crowd of people on lower Manchester Road, days before his wedding, after he was allegedly mistakenly identified as a thief.

Pastor Huntley Hepburn, in delivering the sermon during Saturday’s service at Victoria Town Full Gospel Assemblies, was livid as to the sequence of events on the Friday afternoon when Campbell was mobbed.

“On May 6, 2022 the cool, cool Mandeville was ignited, burning with hatred, burning with bitterness…” he told scores of mourners.

“It is very dangerous for anyone to fall in the hands of a mob,” he added.

Hepburn, like many other residents of Victoria Town, continues to question the actions of not only those who participated in the beating of Campbell, but also criticised the police for handcuffing him.

“You see, a mob has to be led by some instigators… Because not every person in the crowd is alike,” he said.

“I do not know where the officers were in Mandeville, but they must have gotten the news that there was an uproar in the town,” he added.

A video, which went viral on social media, shows Campbell lying on a sidewalk surrounded by a crowd of people hurling robbery accusations.

“What I get from what I saw in the video is that there was a wounded man that was incapable and incapacitated and needed immediate medical attention,” the pastor said.

“But what I saw in the video is that a handcuff was placed behind him…. When a handcuff was placed on a man who could not move, questions have to be asked,” he added.

His colleague, Pastor Norval Minott, who was listed in the funeral programme as the minister to deliver the sermon, said he was too overwhelmed with grief to speak for long.

“It is a sad time because what took place on that sad day certainly really hit this community like a thunderbolt,” he said.

Campbell’s death sparked protests in his community, where he was described as a dedicated member of the Victoria Town Primary and Infant School board.

Principal Nadine Williams-Chambers remembered Campbell for his passion and support of the school.

“[He] loved us at Victoria Town Primary and Infant… He had the school’s best interest at heart. Whenever anything happened at the school I would just give him a call and he would come running. He made contributions, [including] stationery supplies, to the school on more than one occasion. There is not one person at Victoria Town Primary and Infant that has a bad thing to say about him,” Williams-Chambers said.

“We are deeply saddened by his death. We are still in shock,” she added.

Councillor Claudia Morant Baker (Jamaica Labour Party, Porus Division) said Campbell was not politically partisan.

“Even since I became the candidate he has given me the greatest of respect. Whenever we met, even though we did not affiliate with the same party, he showed me that respect. We would run into each other in May Pen, Toll Gate, and Porus, and two days before his death we ran into each other in Mandeville,” she said.

Head of the Manchester police Superintendent Lloyd Darby said the police are still searching for individuals involved in the mob attack.

“I just want to assure the relatives and the community members that we continue our investigations. We continue to seek to bring other people who might have been involved before the courts so that the judicial system can take its course,” he said.

Orlando Powell, a Manchester taxi operator, has been charged with murder following the incident and was granted bail in the sum of $500,000 earlier this month.

He is said to have mistakenly identified Campbell as a thief.

Darby called on political and religious leaders to increase their impact on the society to encourage people to refrain from mob attacks.

“…We keep on repeating the need for us to behave in a civil manner. The issue of people taking the law into their own hands, you serving the process of the judicial system continues, and in this situation it was made worse by where it happened, right in the town of Mandeville,” he said.

Tributes were delivered by singer Jodian Pantry, residents of Victoria Town, among others, during the four-hour service.

Campbell was interred at a family plot in Victoria Town.