Man at death’s door granted bail

An elderly man, who has been in custody since January, was offered bail on humanitarian grounds by a senior parish judge on Thursday after police investigators informed her that he appeared to be at death's door.

The accused man, Orville Salmon, was offered bail in absentia on humanitarian grounds, in the sum of $30,000 with at least two sureties by judge Cole-Montaque after she heard about the man's dire condition.

"I don't think he will make it. He can't talk, he can't walk. His head is swollen and he needs to do a CT scan. We can't really offer police guard in a situation like this because it doesn't look like he has much time left," an investigator informed Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque.

Salmon was scheduled to appear before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday to be sentenced for possession of a forged driver's licence. However, he was not taken to court due to the severity of his illness.

His daughter told THE WEEKEND STAR that Salmon has been hospitalised since August 19 for severe brain injury. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said that her father has a serious medical problem for which he required medication constantly. However, his medical woes worsened when he was allegedly injured while in lock-up.

"He used to keep saying him get lick with padlock but he's not saying who did it," his daughter said.

It was shared with the court that Salmon has been in custody since January 4 and has served a time of imprisonment at the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre for uttering forged documents and disorderly conduct.

But the man's daughter is not swayed that he was sentenced, noting that the judge who saw her father initially had ordered that he pay a fine and that he be remanded in custody pending the police's investigation relating to traffic tickets that Salmon had incurred.

"He had a court appearance on January 13 and was fined $62,000 for obtaining a driver's licence by means of false documents. At the same time, the investigating officer dug up and found out that he has 67 outstanding traffic tickets and the judge said she would give the investigating officer until February 16 to find the tickets and bring it to court. They did not bring him to court," the woman said.

The woman, seemingly frustrated, told THE WEEKEND STAR that she has found the conduct of the investigators "heartbreaking."

"I am devastated to see how they deal with someone who has been in custody, who cannot care for himself. I saw him today [Thursday] and he is basically a cabbage. He cannot do anything, he's just lying there," she related.

Crushed by the news of her father's deteriorating condition, the woman shared with the news team that she is intent on pursuing legal action against the State.

"They set a court date for September 8 and me nuh sure him a guh live fi even see that day," she said.