Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

ANDREW Scott was a healthy fireman who died at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) in Kingston on December 19 last year, one month after being taken into police custody for fraud.

While his family members await the results of a post-mortem before they say a final goodbye, Dennis Jackson, Scott's elder brother, is seeking answers as to the circumstances which led to the fireman's death.

The post-mortem results will speak to the cause of his eventual death. What it may not confirm, however, is Jackson's belief that his 28-year-old brother was beaten while in lock-up, by persons who may have had close ties to two policeman, with whom he might have had a business relationship.

The Sunday Gleaner has been reliably informed that the policemen with whom Scott was associated are being investigated by the Fraud Squad, which has refused to comment on the matter.

Unanswered questions

But for Jackson, many questions need to be answered as to how Scott transformed from being healthy to half-dead, within days after he was carted off to jail.

Of particular interest to Jackson is the three-day period between Tuesday, November 21, and Friday, November 24, when he found Scott unconscious in his cell at the Kingston central Police Station, lying in his own waste.

He was detained by the Port Antonio police and was transferred to the Kingston Central lock-up the following day.

Scott had allegedly encashed two cheques for the two Portland policemen, one of whom is now being investigated. One of the cheques was for £1,000 and the other £500.

Jackson says he has done some investigation himself, and based on what he has picked up, there seemed to have been some form of relationship between his brother and the policemen. Jackson said his brother told him from his hospital bed that the cheques which he encashed belonged to the lawmen but he agreed to have them payable to him.

Shocking Story

Jackson has established a theory. He believes his brother, who was locked up in an isolated cell, was badly beaten by police who are closely linked to the Portland rogue cops, despite a report by police at Kingston Central that the injuries were self-inflicted. Jackson tells the shocking story of the condition in which he found his brother days after being transferred from the lock-up in Port Antonio to a Kingston Central jail.

"When I turned up and asked for him, they say I could not see him because it is not a visiting day.

"I waited until in the evening because I had some clothes for him and I was told that because of his condition he could not be interviewed by the Fraud Squad.

But what Jackson waited for turned out to be the shock of his life. He said a senior policeman agreed to take the things he had brought for his brother and a constable went to check on him but soon returned with a kerchief over his nose. "Dah man deh look like him dead, 'Spec," Jackson says the constable told an inspector on duty. After the inspector went to have a look, he allowed Jackson to see his brother.

Unconscious

"When I went up there, the man was lying on the ground. He was filled with mess and he was unconscious," Jackson said.

With the assistance of a life support machine, Jackson says his seemingly lifeless brother started breathing again. And when he had regained full consciousness, Jackson said the young fireman said had been beaten by the police.

"He said that the police beat him. They gave him injections, wrapped batons in towels and repeatedly hit him on the head and over his body," Jackson recounts.

The Kingston Central police have denied that Scott was beaten while in their care, but Jackson maintains that Scott had no ailment at the time of his imprisonment.

A post-mortem to determine the cause of death will be conducted on Tuesday.