Contributed
Clement Lloyd Beckford, the Jamaican who spent 25 years in a Bahamian prison and who is still in that country trying to get back home.
Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer
Clement Beckford, the Jamaican who spent 25 years in a Bahamian prison, 11 more years than he should have, could be awarded US$200,000 (J$12.4 million) in damages for wrongful imprisonment. A lawyer in the Attorney-General's office in The Bahamas told The Sunday Gleaner that the amount is pending the approval of The Bahamian Cabinet. The Cabinet will meet this Tuesday.
Beckford was released from Fox Hill, The Bahamas' only prison, in September last year, with an apology from the Government, after his lawyer, Dorsey McPhee, filed a writ of habeas corpus in the Bahamian Supreme Court.
Following his release, Mr. McPhee filed a civil suit on behalf of Clement against the Bahamian Government seeking compensation for unlawful detention of his client for the period of 25 years, one month and 28 days.
Three weeks ago, Mr. McPhee told The Sunday Gleaner that he was negotiating with the Bahamian Government for an out-of-court settlement for his client, but at the time, he refused to disclose how much money he was asking the Government for.
The lawyer in the Attorney-General's office told The Sunday Gleaner that based on Bahamian Government policy, awards of damages over US$50,000 have to be approved by the full Cabinet. However, damages of US$50,000 and less can be approved by the Attorney-General's office.
In July 1979, when he was 27 years old, Clement was arrested and charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Evelyn McKinney. In 1980, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for the crime.
Born in Hanover, he had left Jamaica in 1971 to go to The Bahamas, but in 1989, when authorities attempted to deport him to Jamaica after he had served his sentence, he had no documents to prove to immigration officials at the airport that he was Jamaican.
He was sent to the airport to be deported to Jamaica. According to reports in The Bahamian media, Clement was taken off the aircraft and spent 10 days in police custody before being returned to Fox Hill Prison.
It is not clear whether Clement was sent to Jamaica and denied entry into the country by Jamaican officials or if immigration officials in The Bahamas prevented him from leaving the country because he had no travel documents. It is also unclear if his relatives in Jamaica responded to letters that Beckford wrote to them shortly after he was arrested in 1979. In the letters, one of which was written to his mother who died in May this year, Beckford admitted that he had destroyed his Jamaican passport and begged for them to send him documents that would prove his identity and his nationality to the Bahamian authorities.
NEW STORY
Sunday Gleaner sources in the Attorney-General's office in The Bahamas said that office has requested a psychiatric evaluation of Beckford to determine if he is fit to accept the US$200,000 award. Failing that, relatives will have to show proof of identification and proof of their relationship to Beckford. They will also have to demonstrate their intention to take him home to Jamaica and look after his welfare, before the award would be made to them on Beckford's behalf.
A month ago, Beckford told The Sunday Gleaner that he wanted to return home. He said the years in prison had been
terrible and he has an injured knee, which he sustained 16 years ago, while he was in prison.
