Murder accused says he made no confession

Andrew Harclyde Pollard denied making a confession statement which indicated that he argued with his ex lover about an abortion before he killed her.

Today, Pollard who is on trial for the March 11, 2014 murder of Onicka Gulliver, challenged the authenticity of the statement, along with entries in the police log book, evidence given by the victim’s family and doctors’ medical reports.

This came, as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale, cross-examined Pollard.

The accused gave sworn testimony earlier this week which focused on the seven-day police beating he claimed he received during his time in custody.

“Your testimony on Monday was part of a well-rehearsed play,” Seale said, suggesting that Pollard hoped to gain sympathy from the jury by focusing on the beating instead of the murder.

Seale then read the 19-page statement Pollard wrote regarding the alleged police beating. The statement reiterated some of what Pollard told the court on Monday.

Pollard spoke of being wrapped in plastic and beaten about the body until he blacked out, suffering injury to the groin, being jumped on in his chest, having his ear drum damaged, having a gun stuck in his mouth which broke a tooth and vomiting blood.

The Deputy DPP, in seeking to refute these claims, referred to a doctor’s report on Pollard’s state.

The report by Dr. Ross Herbert indicated that there was no evidence of intra-abdominal injuries, no skin changes, no evidence of chest abnormalities, no testicular swelling or bruising and no broken tooth. Another doctor also denied any ear injury.

“This is a reel of lies, you are not speaking the truth,” Seale charged.

Pollard claimed that the officers told the doctor that he couldn’t write anything about his beating in the medical report.

The accused also claimed that police made certain statements as they beat him. He recalled one officer saying “you telling [your lawyer] we beating you?
We gin ******* kill you”. He even said that police threatened to kill him and stage it as a suicide.

“We are police, we can do what we want to do and nothing can’t happen,” Pollard recalled an officer said in the statement.

Seeking to rubbish the beating claim, the prosecutor referred to a picture in a media publication which showed Pollard appearing in court the day after his claims of police brutality. The picture, showed Pollard had “no bruises”.

“Not a speck, no bruising from handcuffs and no bruises on the face,” the prosecutor recalled.

He further added that when Pollard was remanded he only informed prison personnel that he “suffered from back pain”.

Seale then focused on the confession statement Pollard denied writing. Pollard said police made him write “I love you” on a piece of paper because they wanted to see how his handwriting looked. This was before they then forced him to sign a confession statement.

The statement indicated that on the night of the death Pollard went by Gulliver’s residence and as he drove, they had an argument about an abortion she had.

At one point Gulliver angrily got out of the car and started walking away but after Pollard nudged her she got back into the car.

The statement also suggested that Gulliver later became aggressive and started beating Pollard after which he hit her in the throat and she slumped against the door with no signs of breath. He then took her out of the car and left her in the bush. Pollard then allegedly said he was “sorry” and claimed
he was defending himself.

Pollard denied seeing Gulliver on the night of March 11, even though Gulliver’s aunt gave evidence that she saw Pollard come to the house on that night.

The aunt said she called Gulliver to go to Pollard who was outside in a white car. Another male who lived at Gulliver’s house also said he saw the accused.

Seale said Pollard also lied when he said that officers never told him why he was being arrested.

The prosecutor recounted that it was Gulliver’s mother who confronted Pollard about her daughter’s disappearance and subsequently brought the police
to Pollard’s home.

Pollard did not deny the mother’s visit nor did he deny that she was in a police jeep when he was arrested. In his sworn evidence on Monday, he said that only three officers were in the vehicle at that time.

A log book which time stamped when Pollard received food and drink, was also challenged. Pollard said he was not fed for the seven days while in custody suffering the beatings.