‘The Government needs a better strategy’

LONDON:

A UK-based diaspora council representative is demanding that Jamaica take immediate measures to curb its crime epidemic following the murder of a British visitor.

The call by Dr Kevin Brown, the north representative of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council, comes after the killing of Londoner Sean Patterson on New Year’s Day in St James.

The 33-year-old, from west London was gunned down while relaxing nearby a swimming pool in a villa near Montego Bay, where he rented accommodation. The personal trainer was shot multiple times in the head and upper body in Bogue Hill. He had arrived in Jamaica to visit family only a few days before his murder.

Dr Brown, commenting on the death which was widely publicised across the British media last week, said: “Unfortunately, 2023 has started how 2022 ended, with murder. In 2022, nearly 1,500 people were murdered in Jamaica; and on the first day of the year, a British tourist has been killed. It is alarming.

“The Jamaican Government needs to get to grips with its epidemic. What is apparent is that while states of emergency may have an impact in a small geographical space, it is not a long-term solution.

“Crime and violence do not have limits in Jamaica, and also affects the diaspora visiting the island as tourists.”

ASSAILANT IN CUSTODY

Police in Jamaica have claimed that a contract killing, planned in the United Kingdom, was behind Patterson’s murder.

In a video statement made by Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey it was said: “Our investigation so far has theorised that the murder was a contract killing that emanated from Britain.

“There was no evidence Patterson was robbed.”

According to DCP Bailey, a Kingston man who had been in the company of Patterson before he was murdered by the assailant, has been taken into custody for questioning.

He stated: “(The Kingston man) reported that his back was turned to Patterson when he hear several loud explosions (which) sounded like gunshots.

“He reported that he looked around and saw a lone man dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt with a handgun shooting Patterson.”

Patterson’s mother, Lesley Wright, told British newspaper The Daily Mail that it was her son’s first visit to Jamaica.

The mother said that the 33-year-old had relatives in Jamaica on his father’s side, but he never got to meet them before he was shot and killed. Wright, 63, said: “The local police have told me that Sean was at a big party over the New Year (holiday)and was sitting by a pool talking to friends.

“Someone pulled at his arm and he shrugged the person off, but about four gunshots were fired immediately afterwards and Sean was hit in the upper body.” She added: “I’ve lost my baby. No mother should have to bury her child.”

Wright added that her son was not “the argumentative type”, so she was perplexed at the motive behind his killing.

The mother described her son as the “loveliest, sweetest boy, and the kindest, most happy-go-lucky man”.

She added: “We hope for justice and that my son’s killer is taken off the street, where they can’t hurt anyone else and destroy another family”.

Meanwhile, Alan Patterson, the father of the deceased, expressed his grief while being interviewed on ITV, a British television station. He said:

“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. People have been asking: ‘Why have they killed him?’

“It was his first time in Jamaica, and his life was taken away. I can’t comprehend it. He went to Jamaica and 72 hours later he was dead. The whole world is missing Sean Patterson and we need justice. We want justice. He deserves justice.

“He was loved, and they have taken that light away from us.”

Patterson’s family said their priority is now to bring his body back to the UK.

NO SILVER BULLETWhile encouraging the Jamaican diaspora to have open minds to allegations and rumours circulating through the British media regarding the motive for the murder, Dr Brown reaffirmed that the island has a serious crime problem which must be addressed.

He has called on the Jamaican Government to implement a serious crime-prevention plan, apart from its state-of-emergency responses, and investment in its police force.

He said: “I accept that there is no silver bullet or switch to remedy the crime wave sweeping across Jamaica. However, the Government needs a better strategy.

Brown added: “It requires a severe crime-fighting stance, along with improvements in social and economic initiatives, job creation, and mechanisms to guide young people away from crime.

“It will take time and commitment from the Government and Jamaicans.”

Bailey said that police authorities in Jamaica were working along with international partners, including the UK police, and were “making significant progress” in the case.