Deputy Commissioner Charles Thompson is appealing for the public to share any information they have on the identity of the person who viciously attacked a woman on Sunday.
During a live radio interview on Monday morning, the police official said he was limited on what he could reveal about the victim and the crime but confirmed officers had responded to a call in the early hours of Sunday.
He described it as a serious incident with the victim receiving injuries. Thompson said there had been no report of rape involved in the crime as had been stated on social media.
The incident occurred in Davy Hill, which has been the scene of at least three other attacks on women over the past two years. To date, the police have been unsuccessful in capturing the perpetrator. The police have also not released any description which could lead to capture, and this was pointed out by callers to the ZJB radio show.
The acting police commissioner said there is cause for concern given the similarity with other incidents in the location and implored the community to work with them and report any information which could assist them.
Thompson said the local police service was more than capable of solving the case and several officers had been assigned to it. However, the entire force, he added was focused on bringing the case to a positive conclusion. He did not think the case warranted the intervention of Scotland Yard as some in the community are calling for.
A petition to encourage the governor to request outside support has been started with change.org.
Her Excellency Governor Elizabeth Carriere called in to the radio show to say that it was up to the commissioner to request outside assistance from her and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It was not something she could initiate.
Deputy Commissioner Thompson insisted that the answer to “our situation is the police and community work must work together.”
“Montserrat is a changing community and we have to adapt to the changes,” Thompson said. The official in the past has stated that the RMPS lacks the resources to do its job effectively with a changing environment. He explained that they had in the past sought assistance to get closed circuit television as was again suggested by a caller but it had not been deemed a priority by the requisite government ministry.
He thanked those in the community who had provided information in the past and encouraged others who could assist to do the same. He also asked that people should report any incidences of police officers releasing information that should be confidential in order to help restore confidence in the service.
Governor Carriere said as all other residents she regrets what is happening and called it “very disturbing”.
