Injured policeman to seek medical care in Martinique

While the police report a relatively peaceful 2016 Carnival, officers made a number of arrests and two of the injured were police officers.

"The Carnival festivities celebrated island wide and which climaxed with two days of street reveling on Monday the 8th and Tuesday the 9th of February were relatively peaceful," Police Public Relations Officer, acting inspector of Police, Pelham Jno Baptiste said.

He said there were no serious incidents reported in the St Joseph, Salisbury, Mahaut and Portsmouth communities…but "a few minor incidents occurred in the St Joseph community after the celebrations had ended."

In the Grand Bay area there were two serious incidents of wounding and one vehicular traffic collision which left a three-year old infant male injured.

In Roseau Jno Baptiste claimed there were "twenty-three arrests made mostly for minor offences of armed with offensive weapon and disorderly conduct."

However, on Carnival Monday in Roseau, police constable Wilburton Jules of Layou was attacked by a group of men. He is now a patient at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and medical officials are preparing to have him airlifted to Martinique for further medical attention. He suffered major head injuries and scans reveal a hematoma.

Two men, Brandon Guiste and Kenrick Mitchel of Kingshill have been arrested and charged with attempted murder on the life of the policeman. They have been remanded in custody until February 18, 2016 when the prosecution will provide medical evidence and the court will then decide on bail.

Patrickson Esprit, another police officer also sustained an injury while on duty.

The police also report that Ted Williams of Bellevue Chopin sustained an injury to his right shoulder with a cutlass. The incident occurred about 1 pm on Tuesday 9 February at Bellevue Chopin. He was transported to the Accident and Emergency Department of the PMH by the Fire and Ambulance Services and admitted. Investigations are ongoing.