Flashback to 1999 - Michael Gayle

In August 1999, Michael Gayle, the second of six children for his mother, Jenny Cameron, was beaten by members of the security forces in the Corporate Area community of Olympic Gardens, where his family lived.

The mentally ill man, who attempted to breach a curfew manned by members of the security forces, died from his injuries at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) two days later.

The case was championed by Jamaicans for Justice, then a fledgling human-rights advocacy group, which brought it to the attention of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Three years later, the IACHR released a report on the incident, in which it condemned the Government for its handling of the matter.

The IACHR said the Government should publicly apologise to the family and offer monetary compensation.

The then director of public prosecutions, Kent Pantry, had ruled that there was no one criminally responsible for Gayle's death.

At the time, then Attorney General A.J. Nicholson said Gayle's death was "deeply regrettable", and the State paid his family almost $3 million.