Prison too good for Bryan, says abducted child’s mom

The mother of the first child abducted last October, allegedly by Davian Bryan, is elated at Wednesday’s detention of the fugitive but would rather he be dead than be fed and cared for in prison.

That is a view shared by residents of Airy Castle and her neighbours in Bath, the rural St Thomas district that was plunged into anguish when two girls, including a 13-year-old, were taken captive within days of each other.

The mother of the nine-year-old victim was awash with emotion at her home in Bottom Yard Lane on Thursday, five months after the ordeal.

She was hesitant when she initially heard of his arrest but was finally convinced when investigators visited her on Thursday and formally gave her the good news.

Bryan, 32, was held by the police after a relative of his arranged with the police for his detention in Durham, Portland.

Bryan, who had been slapped with rape and firearm charges in the summer of 2020, was living in Bath on condition of his bail because he was forbidden to reside in Norwich, where he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman.

The circumstances that caused him to move to Bath still haunt the mother of the nine-year-old girl and other Bath residents who say they prefer him dead than alive.

“Me feel relieved, yes, but the relief weh mi feel, him a go prison go eat taxpayers’ money. Him never did fi end up go back, but they will kill him same way,” she said in a Gleaner interview.

The teary-eyed mother said that her daughter and other siblings, who were given counselling, are trying to move on from the incident.

The nine-year-old, who has problems with her sight, has had to change school to avoid discrimination and further trauma.

The mother still recalls the terror of that October night when her daughter did not come home.

“I couldn’t sleep. I had to be in the search. All mi foot dem weak, me still a fi up searching,” she said.

Life hasn’t been the same since the double-abduction nightmare.

The mother accompanies her children to school - never leaving them out of her sight - a stark change in habit from the trustfulness and laissez-faire attitude that is common in rustic neighbourhoods.

The brutality of the alleged July 11, 2020, attack in Norwich, Portland, for which Bryan was charged, offers chilling insight, if true, into the suspect’s capacity for violence.

The victim had reported that he pressed metal against her head and ordered her to open the door as she entered her home at 3 o’clock that morning, prosecutors have alleged.

Bryan is accused of raping the woman three times, according to documents seen by The Gleaner.

The community of Bath won’t let its guard down, even with Byran’s arrest, as there lingers a deep-seated belief that the suspect may have had co-conspirators.

“We still haffi a look if any perpetrator is out there because it would come in like is not him alone a do this thing,” she said, claiming that he was aided.

Community menfolk who joined the days-long search for Bryan said they are disappointed that he will spend years behind bars if convicted for his crimes.

“Mi glad say dem catch him still, but mi did want him dead. Him a go eat out taxpayer money,” a resident said.