Magistrates

Why do Magistrates have to be very careful about police evidence? Police officers are only human. They can lose their tempers just as quickly as you or me. They too can become berserk when that rush of adrenalin meets a low-sugar blood level. That is why no Magistrate worth his or her salt would believe police evidence that an accused youth “assaulted a police officer in the execution of his duty”, or “obstructed a police officer in the execution of his duty”, or even, “used indecent language to a police officer” without independent corroborating evidence. I have no statistical evidence to rely on. But, I would say from my own reading, listening and studying, that probably a full fifty percent of such accusations, when there is no independent corroborating evidence, is falsely concocted to cover up wrongful arrests.

It happens in every country, including the USA and in the UK. The video below is a report on a shocking case from the UK. A war hero, out drinking with friends, was mistaken by police for a person who had been reported as being unruly. They saw he had had too much to drink. They assumed that he was the culprit. They rushed him, flung him to the ground, and savagely beat him up when he struggled. All of it was caught on camera. The Magistrates still convicted him of the charges brought against him by the police. It took an appeal for him to be cleared of the false charges. Meanwhile, Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall lost any chance of getting a job, and his life has been ruined.

In the UK, there is an independent Police Complaints Commission. They investigate complaints from the public about misbehaviour on the part of the police. The Commission is swift to report when they find wrongdoing. Police officers can be severely reprimanded, or worse. Yet, despite knowing this, UK police officers still sometimes make the kind of mistake they made in relation to Aspinall.

What chance do members of the Anguillian public have of getting justice when we are mistreated by the police? We have no independent oversight of our police whatsoever. You can try complaining to the Commissioner of Police, or even to the Governor. See what response you get! You will be received politely enough. You will get every assurance that the complaint will be investigated. But, nothing ever comes of it. Not a single police officer to my knowledge has ever been reprimanded, far less prosecuted and punished, for committing any kind of offence in Anguilla. No apology has ever been made to a victim of police misconduct. Charges are dealt with “administratively”. The offending officer is asked to retire or resign quietly in return for the matter being hushed up. The offences that police officers have allegedly committed in Anguilla during my time have ranged from being the cause of persons dying in the police cells to shoplifting and other assorted crimes. Just five years ago, it was common gossip that only certain police officers were permitted to sell cocaine at Johnnos. I have stopped investigating cocaine distribution in Anguilla since I learned how widespread it is, and how dangerous it can be to become too interested in the personalities involved.

Let us hope that Aspinall is properly compensated for the brutal treatment he received.

We cannot be sure that our Anguillian Magistrates will see through fabricated police concoctions of evidence when they occur.

The new Constitution must give Anguillians some sure recourse from this kind of abuse taking place in the future.

By the way, does anyone know when we are going to be shown the “new” draft constitution the Ministers have been deciding on behind our backs? The one that the British are going to be told we have all agreed to?