Infirmary objects to taking mentally ill Trelawny man - Future uncertain for Small after 16 years behind bars
Published:Tuesday | July 21, 2020 | 12:18 AMLeon Jackson/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
The Trelawny Infirmary has reportedly poured cold water on a suggestion that it should accept a mentally ill man who has been in custody without trial for 16 years.
The man, Morris ‘Rassimong’ Small, who is believed to be in his 70s, was deemed unfit to plead and has been locked away between jails and prison for 16 years for smashing a windscreen in 2004. His case comes on the heels of recent revelations that more than 140 mentally ill persons were being held in custody, some as long as five decades, without facing a trial.
The Gleaner understands that after being informed that the court would be asked to send Small to the Trelawny Infirmary in Falmouth when he next appears before the Trelawny Parish Court on July 30, the facility’s board of management reportedly met and took a decision not to accept him.
When contacted, Councillor Dunstan Harper, who chairs the Poor Relief Committee of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation, offered no comment.
“I am not permitted to speak on the matter,” he told The Gleaner, neither admitting nor confirming whether a meeting was held to discuss the matter.
A source close to the infirmary told The Gleaner that there were unresolved issues with Small’s prior occupancy at the facility.
Hugh Faulkner, the executive director of the Legal Aid Council and who is representing Small, told The Gleaner that he is expecting that Small will be housed at the infirmary.
“Last time in court, the recommendation was that he be placed at the infirmary. The inspector of the poor, Ms Frances Brown, had agreed to take him,” the attorney said.
The Gleaner was unable to get a comment from Brown, but it is understood that the infirmary is banking on a recent directive by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie that in keeping with the Disaster Risk Management Act protocols, no new clients should be admitted to the facility.
Faulkner, however, is weighing other options in the event that the infirmary is ruled out as he believes that Small has spent enough time behind bars.
“I am in the process of checking nursing homes, service clubs, and even the Bellevue Hospital,” he said. “Small must not go to any penal institution after July 30.”