Devon Fenton v Leonard Anthony Blair & Attorney General of Jamaica

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

IN COMMON LAW

SUIT NO. CL 1995/F-181

BETWEEN DEVON FENTON CLAIMANT

AND LEONARD ANTHONY BLAIR 1 ST DEFENDANT

AND AlTORNEY GENERAL

OF JAMAICA 2ND DEFENDANT

Mrs Jacqueline Samuels-Brown and Miss 'rhalia Maragh for claimant.

Miss Annaliesa Lindsay and Miss Julie Thompson instructed by the Director of

State Proceedings for defendants

Heard: March 1 7, 18, and May 14, 2004

JONES, J.

Disregard for human life and sheer recklessness are the commonplace

themes that pervade this tale of violence and police excess set in the small

district of Sandy Bay, in the parish of Clarendon. On November 25, 1994,

thirty-eight year-old Devon Fenton was having a drink with his friends at a

night club in Sandy Bay. Constable Leonard Blair and a group of policemen

entered the premises. Some men who were garr~bling at the back of the

premises ran. Devon Fenton stood up to ascertain the reason for the

disturbance. Constable Leonard Blair opened fire. A few seconds later, Devon

Fenton lay momentarily unconscious, paralysed from the waist down. The

entry wound on the right side of his neck showed that he was shot by Constable

Blair.