The attorney representing Rushane Patterson, the person of interest in the death of social media personality Aneka ‘Slickiana’ Townsend, has alleged that her client was beaten by cops and questioned by lawmen without her present to observe the interview.

Kingston-based attorney-at-law Michelle Thomas told OBSERVER ONLINE that her client said a police officer hit him with a hard object which broke his cell phone that was in his pocket, which she claimed contained information vital to his defence.

Patterson, who is also known as ‘Chizzie’ from Prospect district in Hanover, was named as a person of interest on October 22, after the body of the 35-year-old was fished from the sea in Reading, St James on October 21.

READ: UPDATE: Police name person of interest in death of woman believed to be social media influencer

Thomas said she was retained by Patterson’s parents and had agreed to be present when he turned himself over to the police. However, according to Thomas, Patterson got “cold-feet” and did not turn himself in, which resulted in the police descending on a guest house he was staying in Hanover where he was arrested.

READ: Rushane Patterson arrested in Hanover

Thomas explained that after learning that Patterson was in custody, she contacted the detective in charge of the case, Garfield Francis, and discussed the question-and-answer session with her client.

“He said that he doesn’t foresee any questioning until about Friday, and he also said to me, ‘hear what, call me back by 10 o’clock and I will tell you what is what.’ I called him for the entire day yesterday [Wednesday]. That was a red flag for me because I’ve always been in communication with this police officer and he had always answered my calls, so when I saw that he was not answering, I started to worry,” Thomas stated.

She added that she went to Montego Bay, St James on Thursday, and after speaking with her client, he reported that he was questioned and a statement was taken by the police officer.

“It can’t be that an attorney has professed to you that she represents the person and you went ahead, avoided all the calls that you were getting and went and questioned the person of interest without any attorney being present,” Thomas said.

“I was made aware that he was beaten. The lawyer in that capacity should be there to observe that his constitutional rights are being upheld and to advise the client so that he or she does not say anything that is prejudicial to him without knowing,” she added, noting that her client said he was also taken by police officers to the guest house, where he was picked up by investigators, to “look for evidence.”

Responding to the claims by Thomas, detective Francis told OBSERVER ONLINE that he has “no knowledge,” that Patterson was questioned, and, “We have no knowledge of Mr Patterson retaining any lawyer.”

In response to the allegation that Patterson was hit by a cop, Francis said, “Why would the police beat Mr Rushane? Mr Rushane is a person of interest, why would anybody want to beat a person of interest? Beat? There was no intimation and Mr Patterson was not questioned. That is a total lie.”

Additionally, he reiterated that since Thomas is an attorney in Kingston, and “not known”, he expected her to reach out to an attorney that is known in that parish to have them verify her identity.

“Anybody can take up a phone and say ‘I am a detective’,” Francis said.

Thomas acknowledged that Detective Francis sent her a voice note telling her to “contact a reputable attorney in St James who will verify” that she is indeed a lawyer, but said she found the request “disrespectful”.

“I never know that in a country where people study and practice law, whenever they say they have someone in custody they must use someone else who is prominent to identify them. I find that most disrespectful and so I am not allowing the issue to rest right there,” an outraged Thomas said, adding, “You have been entertaining me over the phone, so much so that I have your personal number. How all of a sudden as the man is in your care and possession, you don’t want to entertain my calls.”

She also alleged that the police are yet to charge her client in the Townsend matter due to insufficient evidence.

“This is the thing, because of domestic violence and its effect thereafter on women in Jamaican society, someone is being used to make an example,” Thomas argued.

Speaking on the unrelated charges placed against him on Thursday, Thomas said, “It is so comical that having had statements from someone from 2018 sitting in a file, why are we pursuing a matter now, what were the police officers doing back then ‘til now. This was a man that was not hiding for all this time. ”

Patterson was officially charged on Thursday for offences unrelated to the death of Towsend. The number of cases and full details surrounding those matters have not been revealed.

READ: Patterson charged with offences not related to Slickianna’s death- ACP Chambers