Emancipation Day mobbing

Barrington Flemming – Staff Reporter

The euphoria of Emancipation Day was brought to a halt, as the parish of Westmoreland witnessed the mob-style killing of two men.

While most Jamaicans engaged in Emancipation Day activities across the nation, residents of Orange Hill main road, Negril, in Westmoreland, were busy descending upon a man, who remained unidentified up to press time, killing him in the process.

The dead man is believed to be in his late twenties, slim build, is of dark complexion, and is about 165cm (5 feet 5 inches) tall.

Details gleaned from the Savannah-la-Mar Police are that about 12:45 a.m., the man, who was found to be in possession of a motorcycle he could not account for, was approached by irate residents. Further details reveal that the angered residents allegedly set upon him, using machetes and stones to inflict wounds to the body of the victim. The Police were subsequently alerted, and the beaten man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Upon queries, Investigators disclosed to the Western Mirror that just two weeks ago, the motorcycle, which was found in the possession of the now deceased man, was reported stolen from the Orange Hill community.

That incident proved not to be the last that would mar the day’s celebrations, as inside the community of Mango Hall, Little London, still in the parish of Westmoreland, another mob exercised its brand of justice, claiming victim number two of the day.

A man, who purportedly posed as a collections agent of the Jamaican Public Service Company, was held, beaten, and chopped to death by an angry mob in that community, mere hours after the first mobbing.

Reports reaching this newsroom are that on the day in question, three men made their way through the community of Mango Hall, Little London, brandishing fake ID’s, claiming that they were collections agents of the lone power provider in the island. It is alleged that under that guise, the men were allegedly able to fleece funds from some three homes in the community, before their luck apparently ran out.

It was revealed to the Western Mirror that one of the affected residents became suspicious, and alerted others, who then confronted the men. When accosted, two of the men reportedly fled from the mob leaving the third to the wrath of the residents.

In that incident, the unidentified man reportedly had a hand and a foot cut off. It was also reported that the man fell, following which a stone was dropped on his head, allegedly killing him on the spot