Witness identifies cops who were on duty when Mario Deane was beaten

An inmate who was in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up where Mario Deane was beaten on August 3, 2014, today identified the three cops now on trial for Deane's death as the persons who were on duty at the facility at the time of the incident.

The eighth witness for the prosecution in the trial of Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, positively identified the three defendants when the trial resumed this morning in the Westmoreland Circuit Court.

While he was able to identify Stewart by name and physical description, the witness who is currently on remand for an unspecified offence, said he only knew Clevon and Grant by the respective nicknames 'Indian' and 'Short Man,' and by their physical descriptions.

He told the court that during the three weeks he was in custody at the Barnett Street lock-up leading up to August 3, 2014, he regularly saw the three officers whenever checks were being made of prisoners at the facility's cell block.

Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, arising from Deane's death on August 6, 2014, three days after he was beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street lock-up for possession of a ganja spliff.

Stewart, the senior officer at the time, is also charged with perverting the course of justice, where it is alleged that she ordered the cleaning of the cell where Deane was beaten, prior to the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.

- Christopher Thomas

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