Ferguson's family Fear for safety
Published:Wednesday | September 24, 2014 | 3:43 PMAdrian Frater
WESTERN BUREAU:
RELATIVES OF Fahdean Ferguson, the witness in the Mario Deane murder case who allegedly escaped custody last weekend, but has since surrendered and is now back behind bars, has said they are worried about his safety as they believe there might be a plot to silence him because of what he knows.
"He has information that can get important people into trouble so they might want to silence him," a relative, who asked not to be identified, told The Gleaner on Tuesday. "We are very nervous because we would not like anything bad to happen to him."
The Independent Commission of Investigation (INDECOM) released a statement on Tuesday that Ferguson, who the police said had escaped custody, had voluntarily turned himself in at their Western Regional Office in Montego Bay, and was again in police custody.
"The Western Regional Office was instrumental in securing his voluntary attendance to INDECOM," the INDECOM statement said. "Mr Ferguson was subsequently returned to the custody of the JCF and will be interviewed by the commission on matters relating to his absence from earlier custody."
public speculations
Following Ferguson's alleged escape, there were public speculations in western Jamaica that the police had facilitated his escape as a part of a cover-up plot. Ferguson's mother, Ovia 'Marvette' Brown, added fuel to the speculations on Tuesday when she stated in a radio interview that her son was released by the police and had not escaped, as was reported.
When The Gleaner contacted Brown Tuesday afternoon, shortly after she concluded a meeting with INDECOM officials, she said that she was done talking to the media and wanted to be left alone.
"I am not talking to anybody else .... can't you guys get that," Brown said, when The Gleaner tried to interview her. "I want you guys to just leave me alone."
When Senior Superintendent Egbert Parkins, the commanding officer for the St James Police Division, was asked to comment on Brown's radio claim, he said based on the information made available to him, he was refuting the claim.
The police had said that Ferguson escaped through an unlocked window in the holding area at the Montego Bay Police Station, where he had been taken to participate in an identification parade arranged by INDECOM.