BRADES, Montserrat (November 5, 2013) – The Royal Montserrat Police Service (RMPS), Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, and the Judicial Courts are doing their best to send the message that domestic violence in Montserrat shall not be tolerated, says Deputy Commissioner of Police Bradley Siddell.
“Since 2007 the most frequently reported incident to police has been “threats of violence”. Unfortunately a large number of these reports do not make their way to the courts because the complainants / victims are discouraged to cooperate with police. More support is required for these victims of crime.
Modern legislation needs to be injected into the Montserrat Laws that enforces zero tolerance for domestic violence and provides additional arrest and evidentiary powers to the police,” the senior police official said in a statement.
“Recently, on November 2, 2013, Mr. Delon Giddings of Look Out was arrested in relation to such a domestic violence report, alleging a sexual assault and the use of offensive weapons. RMPS Officers carried out an immediate investigation which revealed an ongoing abusive relationship between Giddings and his significant other.
Giddings was subsequently charged with two counts of threats and appeared before Senior Magistrate Veronica Dorsette-Hector on November 4, 2013 pleading guilty. Giddings was sentenced to two months imprisonment for each count to be served concurrently.
“The RMPS consider threats to be a serious offense. The Police are not in the business of issuing warnings. Victims and offenders will be required to convince the Magistrate why or why not the case should proceed to Prosecution,” Deputy Commissioner Siddell declared.
Threats and other crimes can be reported by calling 491-2555.
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