Homeless man’s death sparks call for justice

The head of the nation’s homelessness charity on Friday called for “swift justice” after a homeless man who was reportedly assaulted died of what a post-mortem determined were natural causes.

Kemar Saffrey, founder of the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH), urged witnesses to come forward with information about the November 3 death of Albert John which had initially been linked to injuries from an alleged altercation. Police said in a statement on Friday that an autopsy determined that the 62-year-old, who went to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) to seek treatment for injuries, died as a result of natural causes.

“I don’t think that needs to go unpunished,” Saffrey told Barbados TODAY.

“It needs swift justice, and I am calling on the public – those who witnessed it, have video footage, or can assist the police – to step forward.”

He highlighted the abuse faced by the homeless, many of whom already endure significant challenges, including mental health issues.

“We have advocated for years against the abuse of the homeless. While some of their actions might be questionable, it is not up to us as citizens, especially right-minded citizens, to take justice into our own hands in ways that could lead to a person’s death,” the BAEH head said.

Saffrey also pointed to the widespread mental health issues among the homeless, stressing that many individuals lack access to proper care and often suffer in silence.

“Oftentimes, I am seeing where people think we are the go-to persons as an organisation that deals with mental health. Yes, we have a large number—you can say about 90 per cent of our clients suffer from some sort of mental health [issue]—but we are not the organisation set up to do so. We are not The Psychiatric Hospital, and we are not written into law, and they have the power to deal with [these persons],” he explained.
Saffrey noted that some individuals fail to take their prescribed medication, compounding their challenges.

“I think that more needs to be done in terms of additional mental health nurses in and around Bridgetown, and we’ve also offered our organisation up for The Psychiatric Hospital to administer medication to our clients who don’t go there for whatever reason,” Saffrey said.

He called for a more focused and comprehensive approach to addressing mental health issues among vulnerable groups.

“I don’t feel comfortable where we are right now with addressing mental health issues, especially the vulnerable population [including] the elderly. I believe that a lot more needs to be done—a lot more outpatient [care]—and we need to add more mental health nurses so that it’s not so much of a burden on one [mental health nurse] to deal with the whole of Bridgetown and then still have to deal with other parts of the [island],” he stressed.

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb