Sheraton scare

Five visually-impaired people today recounted the horrors of being at Sheraton Mall the day a man was shot dead.

Kerryann Ifill, Granville Carter, Constantine Maloney, Rudiyard Welch and Alinda Brathwaite, who are all blind, took to the witness stand in the No. 3 Supreme Court to give evidence as the murder trial of Hakeem Roberto Stuart continued.

Stuart, 24, of Shelbourne Gap, St Lawrence, Christ Church, is accused of murdering Damian Trotman on March 31, 2019.

Ifill, a former President of the Barbados Senate and president of the Barbados Council for the Disabled, told the court she was at the popular Christ Church mall on the date in question as part of activities to celebrate the Month of the Disabled.

She said as she was about to answer a question from a reporter when she heard three loud explosions.

“I recall that as I stood speaking with reporters and as I proceeded to answer there were three loud explosions, two in quick succession and one slightly afterwards.

“I felt confused because it sounded like a transformer blowing and the orderly that was accompanying us instructed us to get on the floor as a weapon had just been discharged,” Ifill said.

She said she then heard people screaming and some of her friends were praying.

Ifill said after she got up on her feet she called her family to let them know she was safe.

Carter was visibly shaken as he recalled the traumatic experience. Moments after he started his evidence he began breathing heavily and had to be given a chair on which to sit to compose himself.

After he was settled, Carter said the incident made him feel “scared and helpless” at the time.

“The reporter was speaking to Kerryann Ifill and then I heard a loud explosion and then quickly after there were two more. I then realised it was shots from a gun. I never expected anything to happen like that in Sheraton Centre and I threw myself on the ground.

“I was so scared and helpless. I didn’t know the nature of the shooting. I thought I would have been next,” Carter said.

Maloney told the court she was at Sheraton Mall for a shopping exercise. She said shortly after arriving at the mall around 1:45 p.m. there were loud explosions.

She told the court initially, she thought that the mall was on fire.

“There was a loud explosion and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I heard it once and then I heard it another time. I told myself that I just got there and it seems as if Sheraton is on fire because that is what I thought it was,” Maloney explained.

“I was told to get down on the ground and I did so. I was crying and nervous and I wanted to leave. I just wasn’t myself.”

Another witness Welch told the court that the interview with members of the media was about to begin when he heard a loud explosion and felt “dust or something” on his face.

He said after hearing the explosions he pushed two of his colleagues, who were standing in front of him, to the ground and then threw his body over them.

“I was in shock but I was more concerned for my colleagues,” Welch told the court.

Meanwhile, Brathwaite recalled feeling “confused”.

She said after hearing the explosions she heard a loud commotion.

“I just stood there asking, ‘What is going on?’ I was then pushed to the ground where I remained for a while. The whole time I was hysterical,” Brathwaite recounted.

Also giving evidence today were two police officers attached to the Forensic Scenes of Crime Unit; Sergeant Carlos Lovell and Sergeant David Leslie.

Leslie, a firearms expert, told the court he examined the bullets and cartridges found at the shooting scene. He said they were consistent with rounds from a 9 mm.

Sergeant Lovell revealed that he took the bullets and the cartridges to be examined.

He said the items were recovered from Sheraton Mall where he also saw Trotman’s body.

The matter is being heard by Justice Carlisle Greaves, while Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard and State Counsel Romario Straker are appearing on behalf of the State.

King’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim is representing the accused in association with Sian Lange and Kamisha Benjamin.