More heat on JC

The mother of the former Jamaica College (JC) schoolboy who suffered injuries after a violent attack weeks ago believes her claim that the school has a gang and bullying culture has been supported by the emergence of footage showing another boy being assaulted at the school last week.

The video, which has drawn the ire of the Ministry of Education, which has begun a probe of the events, showed a group of uniformed boys around another boy who is repeatedly being slapped in the face and whipped with a belt.

She believes the video has strengthened hers and her son’s case against the school.

Her son was injured in what the school said was a fight over $2,000 that left him with multiple facial injuries and more than $300,000 in medical bills.

Attorney-at-law Kimberley McDowell, from the law firm HayMcDowell, which is representing the boy, said the school is under pressure to investigate itself.

According to her, while both incidents will not necessarily bear the same facts, the Old Hope Road, St Andrew all-boys secondary school must turn a searchlight on itself.

“Each case stands on its own particular facts. So something that happens in a subsequent case or a subsequent issue doesn’t automatically mean that the previous issue is validated or proven. We believe that our client’s instructions, and her son’s instructions as to what happened was very clear. And we believe in what our client has said. And we think that it will come out during the course of the matter as to what actually happened,” McDowell told The Gleaner yesterday.

“I do believe that this does put some pressure on the school to really address whether or not there is that issue, having said what they said previously. But as it relates to proving our case, we would have to walk our evidence through. But we stand by what they (the mother and son) have said, and they have maintained that,” she stated.

The latest incident, which reportedly occurred last Thursday, led school officials to hold meetings all day yesterday as they investigated the matter.

In a statement yesterday, JC Chairman Lance Hylton said that by midday Sunday, the boys pictured had been identified and the school secured an initial, though unverified, impression of what had transpired. The primary persons involved were interviewed on Monday in the presence of their parents, and signed statements secured.

He said based on interviews and statements, the assaulted student admitted he ‘took’ items – including a jacket, glasses, and money – from his peers about two weeks earlier. He initially denied involvement when questioned by the boys but later confessed and agreed to return them.

“ In the days that followed, he returned a portion of the money and some of the items, but failed to make full restitution and missed several agreed deadlines to do so,” the statement said. “ The aggrieved students subsequently confronted him on school grounds and demanded the outstanding balance. The physical altercation captured in the video occurred at that point ... .”

Senator Marlon Morgan, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education, said yesterday he was the ministry’s envoy to JC, where he met with stakeholders.

“We noted, when we interfaced with the principal and dean of discipline at JC, that they, too, were in the preliminary stages of their own investigation, because they became aware of the disturbing video on Saturday and would have taken steps to identify the students, engaged their parents, summoning them to the school, which they presented at this morning,” Morgan told The Gleaner last night.

He said the ministry awaits JC’s report, which has been promised by today, following which it will issue its own, in keeping with protocols. Psychosocial support will be provided, from the ministry’s guidance and counselling team, as well as from the police’s safety and security personnel.

The school has promised strong action, stating that all students involved will appear before it Disciplinary Committee for appropriate action.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com