By Claude Mills, Staff ReporterIT WOULD be an easy thing to be bitter if you were Millicent Forbes, the mother of 13-year-old Janice Allen who was killed by a policeman's bullet on April 13, 2000 in Trench Town, Kingston.
Last week, a Portland jury returned a not-guilty verdict in the manslaughter of Ms. Forbes' daughter a decision that has haunted her every waking moment since.
"I was devastated when I first heard the verdict, I couldn't sleep, I felt like walking in front of a speeding car, I wanted to give up," she told The Gleaner yesterday.
But only a few days later, Ms. Forbes has now vowed to use this bitter experience as a platform from which to advocate change in the island's justice system. Ms. Forbes' quiet resolve and determination has ignited the support of civil society, and yesterday, sparked four demonstrations across the island to protest the verdict.
"Last week I was really low, but now I am energised by the battle. This cannot work. We're not stopping until we get justice... I want justice done," Ms Forbes stated. "It is unfair what happened to Janice, that was not a trial, it was a kangaroo court, 15 minutes for the life of my child? I cannot accept that."
"I will still hang on, and I will continue to fight for justice in Jamaica," she said, defiantly.
The verdict, as directed by the presiding judge, was made on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to convict Constable Rohan Allen, the policeman who was charged in connection with the teenager's death.
MORE DEMONSTRATIONS TODAY
Today, the citizens of Rema and Trench Town will take to the streets to protest the verdict on Collie Smith Drive and Spanish Town Road, Kingston.
Yesterday's protests were held in Negril, Westmoreland; Montego Bay, St. James and Half-Way Tree and Oxford Road, St. Andrew, in a bid to generate public interest in the emotive case. Three of the protests were organised by Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), while the fourth was organised by the Hyacinth Bennett-led Jamaicans for Action (JFA).
FAIR TURNOUT
"We had a fair turnout, and we gave out thousands of flyers regarding the... case to motorists and other passers-by so we think it was a successful exercise," Susan Goffe, chairman of the JFJ group, said.
"This is the death of a real-life person, not just a statistic or a file. Janice was someone's child."
Yvonne Sobers, convenor of Families Against State Terrorism (FAST), believes that what happened in the Janice Allen case was a travesty of justice.
"An alleged eyewitness refused to be associated any further with the case after he was reportedly a victim of police gunfire (shot in the head and leg) in the same incident. He became fearful after spending over a year in lock-up on suspicion of being the gunman shooting at the police when Janice was killed. He was ultimately released without charge, and chose silence as his most prudent route," Ms. Sobers said.
A record that could have linked Constable Allen to the killing was not presented as evidence. At the inquest, the court was told that the particular page was missing from the police log; at the trial, the court was told that the log was destroyed in a fire at the police station, Ms. Sobers explained.
"This case merely illustrates that the police are in the habit of not pursuing a proper investigation, and so their cases cannot hold up in court," Ms. Sobers said. "This goes beyond Janice and police killings, and speaks to our inability to resolve matters in court which leads to a more frustrated and violent people who take matters into their own hands."
