THE women of Cornpiece Settlement in Hayes, Clarendon, are living in fear due to the actions and sexual advances of a man they call Matthew, whom they say is of unsound mind.

During a recent visit to the community the Jamaica Observer was taken to a house which was ravaged by a fire which, the residents claim, was started by Matthew.

Several women in the community told the Sunday Observer that they are afraid, as they are not able to predict what Matthew will do next.

According to Fay Brown, Matthew has been jumping out of bushes and grabbing on to women in the community. She said that when they put up resistance or try to chase him away, Matthew starts looking for stones to throw at them.

“He keeps coming at you in a sexual and threatening manner. I called the police station and they said they were going to send a patrol team to look for him but [that] at the same time we must protect ourselves from him because they cannot do much about the situation,” claimed Brown.

“He was of unsound mind long time but him never used to behave like this; early last year he started behaving like this. He was living with somebody who take him to the hospital to get his medication but he got aggressive with the people so they threw him out. He used to go to a girl for the medication and he stopped. We suspect that he is doing drugs. He is getting worse everyday.

“Last week he burned down the house he was sleeping in. The other day I was coming from school and he stopped to ask me for matches to borrow. I told him I won’t give him any because I didn’t want him to burn me out of my own house. Him hiss him teeth and start look from side to side, then he turned away and left. This morning [Wednesday] I saw him laughing to himself and bragging that he ‘ran out on three girls the other night’,” added Brown.

The day the house went up in flames, Lillian Brown was at her bar when she saw Matthew running past, dressed only in a pair of underpants.

“When I saw him running from over there I was laughing because I wondered who trouble Matthew now but when I went to the sink to wash my hands, I saw smoke. I thought it was the bush behind the house but when I took a good look I realised it was coming from the ceiling. The mattress he was sleeping on was lit.

“The guy in charge of the place said he saw him there the morning. He woke him up and asked him why he was there and who told him he could be there. The guy said he jumped up and was searching for stones. The guy took up a piece of board and that was when Matthew left the house. The guy told him not to come back. That was like after eight in the morning on Tuesday January 10, 2023. It was around after 2:00 pm when the house was ablaze,” said Lillian.

She added: “The Monday night before that he attacked my bartender. She was playing music and was dancing. He came in and tried to dance with her from behind and touched her inappropriately. She turned around and pushed him off. He ran out and started searching for stones and a run in.

“Honestly, me fear him. I went to the Hayes Police Station last week Wednesday and a female told me that it wasn’t a police issue but a mental health one, so we should call mental health,” Lillian claimed before adding that Matthew was a calm person when on medication, one who was well mannered and a regular attendee in church.

“Surprisingly, he is back at square one and we all fear him,” Lillian said.

Another young woman told the Sunday Observer that she too is scared of Matthew. She said she was traumatised by him during a recent encounter when he exposed his private parts and began touching himself in a sexual manner when he saw her heading in his direction.

A Corporal Bailey from the police station in Hayes told the Sunday Observer that the residents may very well be telling the truth about harrassment from Matthew, but said no report was lodged in the station diary.

“I am not aware of any Matthew. We are aware of another person of unsound mind who was giving some trouble and we took him to the hospital on Wednesday and he was admitted. He is from Baptist Street in Hayes, and Cornpiece is some distance away.”

“I cannot speak for everybody but I didn’t see any entry like that in the diary. I am one of the persons who certified the diary and I have not seen any such entry. I am not saying that it is not happening but I don’t see the entry,” the policeman said.