MARIO DEANE TRIAL
There was no ICU bed for Deane, says CRH medic
Published:Tuesday | May 6, 2025 | 10:14 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Chapman Longmore, the acting senior resident in the Department of General Surgery at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in August 2014, testified that there were no available intensive care unit (ICU) beds for Mario Deane, who was brought to the hospital on August 3, 2014 after being beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station.
Longmore was giving evidence in the Westmoreland Circuit Court, where police officers Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant are on trial for Deane’s death. Deane died three days after the incident.
The doctor said that placing Deane in the ICU might have improved his chances, as he could not breathe independently and needed access to a ventilator. However, the ICU had only four functional beds at the time, all of which were occupied.
Under cross-examination from defence attorney Martyn Thomas, Longmore admitted that there were no available bed-spaces in the CRH’s ICU in 2014.
“Was Mr Deane ever placed on a ventilator after you saw him?” asked Thomas.
“No, he was not,” Longmore answered.
“Why was he not placed in the ICU?” Thomas asked the doctor.
“The unit at that time had a maximum capacity of four functional beds – all of which were occupied at the time by other critical patients,” Longmore stated.
“How many other beds were not functional?” asked Thomas.
“To my recollection, it was a six-bed unit, and two beds were non-functional,” Longmore replied.
The court also heard from Molly Plummer, a former senior investigator at the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM). She testified that she conducted several interviews between August 7 and September 11, 2014, which led to the defendants being charged.
Plummer briefly testified that she conducted several interviews between August 7 and September 11, 2014, culminating in the defendants’ arrest and charge.
The trial continues today, when Plummer’s evidence-in-chief will continue.
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, arising from allegations that they were the officers on duty at the time Deane was beaten on August 3, 2014 while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station’s lock-up in St James for possession of a ganja spliff.
Stewart is also charged with perverting the course of justice, under allegations that she ordered that the cell where Deane was beaten be cleaned before the arrival of INDECOM investigators.