Almost two months after Keyshawn Pierre was beaten by school bullies and his skull fractured, police are still to charge his attackers. Pierre’s mother Errolyn Pierre, said she is frustrated by the police inaction. In an interview on Wednesday, the boy’s mother said she is unhappy with the slow pace of the investigation. “It’s almost two months and the police has not got back to me. I went to the Mon Repos Police Station last week and I was told that the investigating officer has been transferred to Marabella.” Pierre said a senior police officer at Mon Repos has advised her to go to Marabella and seek out the officer to find out the status of her son’s matter. “Why should I have to go to Marabella to seek out the investigator? They should be doing their job and keeping me informed of their progress. It is not my duty to go looking for him,” Pierre said.
The security officer, who lives at Retrench Village, San Fernando, said the last she heard was that the police were awaiting the medical report from the San Fernando General Hospital where Keyshawn was warded from April 18 to 23, to take it to the Director of Public Prosecution. “No one is telling me anything, my child is still in pain. I do not know what long-term effect the injury could have on him. He is uncomfortable in the school. I am frustrated and do not know what to do again,” the distraught woman said. Pierre, 14, a Form One student of Pleasantville Secondary School, was attacked by two of his colleagues as he left the school compound on April 18. He was beaten on the head and face and suffered a fractured skull. Pierre said while being beaten, students were trying to steal his money from his pocket. He was rescued by a teacher and taken to the hospital where he spent one week.
Two male Form One students, from the same school, were interviewed by the Mon Repos police and were subsequently suspended. The police are reportedly awaiting a medical report before laying charges. Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said the issue of bullying, which was on the rise, was occupying the attention of the Cabinet. He revealed that more than 2,500 pupils were suspended from schools last year. Gopeesingh said much of the problem stemmed from a lack of guidance counselling, and a breakdown of values in the home and community, as well as a loss of self-esteem. In light of this, he said, the ministry plans to hire more than 100 educational behavioural and clinical psychologists to deal with emotional and behavioural problems in schools.
