Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
SIX WEEKS after Viola Barrett, a 62-year-old businesswoman of St. Elizabeth was awarded $17.6 million in damages against the government after a policemen's bullet shattered her spine, crippling her, she is yet to see any payout.
Paralysed from the chest down and wheelchair-bound, Mrs. Barrett said that she is 'stone cold broke', and cannot find money to buy medication. She is also unable to afford fares to visit her doctors and therapists in Kingston.
"I am utterly distressed and despondent," said Mrs. Barrett, a resident of the hilltop agricultural district of Elderslie, in a statement issued last Wednesday through her attorney, Mr. Don Foote.
"My life has been turned completely upside down because of this tragedy. Here I am, with a judgement from the Supreme Court as compensation for injuries I did not bring on myself, and yet I am suffering this severe financial hardship, and physical pangs of hell!"
INACCESSIBLE
According to Mr. Foote, who won the award for Mrs. Barrett on May 6, she has had to move out of her own house, because it has become inaccessible.
"Mrs. Barrett now lives in her late mother-in-law's little house. I have made queries but I am hitting a snag. However, I shall soon be deploying tough, new strategies to see that Mrs. Barrett is properly, quickly and adequately recompensed for her unpleasant, unfortunate, worsening dilemma," said Mr. Foote.
Mrs. Barrett has so far amassed medical bills totalling "well over $200,000" and is heavily in debt.
The once successful farmer now has to depend on relatives, friends and a 24-hour nurse to perform even her simplest domestic and personal chores.
On January 14 last year, Mrs. Barrett was travelling home in a taxi with four other persons, including her husband, Mr. Altimant Barrett, when she heard a siren. The car suddenly crashed into an embankment, and as the police, a man and a woman rushed forward and roughly started demanding answers from the stunned and bleeding passengers, 'Miss. Vie', as she is affectionately called, realised that her body had gone "limp, dead and without feeling."
She had been shot and up to this day the bullet remains lodged in her spine.
TRAFFIC CHECK
Mr. Foote quotes the police as saying they had been conducting a traffic check in the area, when the incident occurred. The police allege that the cab driver disobeyed a police order to stop the vehicle. A policeman fired a shot, which hit Mrs. Barrett, who was sitting in the rear seat, court papers submitted by Mr. Foote show.
Mrs. Barrett sued police corporal Edward Stewart, as first defendant, and the Attorney-General of Jamaica, as second defendant, to recover damages. The government accepted liability.
Mr. Justice Roy Jones awarded the damages last May 6 in the Supreme Court of Jamaica - the largest portion of which was for $14.5 million, to cover 'pain and suffering, and loss of amenities'.
The award also covered US$10,000 (Ja$620,000) - to purchase a motorised wheelchair for Mrs. Barrett - loss of future earnings, aggravated damages, and future nursing care and visits to doctors.
