Gay rights activist's killer gets life

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter of the Gleaner reported that ........

THE MAN who pleaded guilty last month to the murder of founding member of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays, 59-year-old Brian Williamson, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr. Justice Basil Reid, in passing sentence, recommended that 25-year-old Dwight Hayden should serve 15 years before he was eligible for parole.

Hayden who is also called 'Dog' and 'Swong' of Myers Street, Jones Town, Kingston, held down his head as the sentence was passed.

Williamson was stabbed and chopped some 70 times in his apartment in New Kingston on June 7, 2004.

Hayden who knew the deceased, went to the apartment and asked for money. He was accompanied by a man called 'Bom Head'. The deceased let them inside and offered them bottles of Guinness stout. The deceased promised to give Hayden the money later that day but both men chopped and stabbed him to death. They stole a chest from the apartment.

HATE CRIME

Amnesty International has taken a keen interest in the case and had described Williamson's murder as a hate crime because of the group in which he was involved.

Dr. Randolph Williams who represented Hayden, asked the judge to be lenient because Hayden had shown remorse from the time he was arrested. He said Hayden confessed to the crime when he gave his cautioned statement and also pleaded guilty.

Dr. Williams said that there was tremendous violence at the time of the incident. He referred to the psychiatric report which stated that Hayden, was involved in substance abuse, namely crack cocaine up to 2002.

The judge in passing sentence said that the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crime. He said further, that the sentence should also show that a person who pleaded guilty could expect consideration for the guilty plea.

ENDS

Sadly Amnesty while we support their assistance in the struggle must also understand that the default hue and cry of homophobia just because the crime has a prominent gay man as a victim and the ghastly parts to the issue is not gronds for automatic homophobia judgement.

This case was one of gay on gay violence (downlow in this case) simply gone bad as the young man as it came out in court despite the attempt to use the Gay panic defense strategy to suggest Williamson forced him into homosexuality; but Williamson had helped the young man financially in his newspaper selling business.

It turned out to be greed that led to respected Williamson's demise unfortunately.  Our allies and friends in foreign lands need to pay very close attention to how the delicate crisis communication tool is used in public discourse.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Peace & tolerance

H

Gay rights activist's killer gets life

THE MAN who pleaded guilty last month to the murder of founding member of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays, 59-year-old Brian Williamson, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr. Justice Basil Reid, in passing sentence, recommended that 25-year-old Dwight Hayden should serve 15 years before he was eligible for parole.

Hayden who is also called 'Dog' and 'Swong' of Myers Street, Jones Town, Kingston, held down his head as the sentence was passed.

Williamson was stabbed and chopped some 70 times in his apartment in New Kingston on June 7, 2004.

Hayden who knew the deceased, went to the apartment and asked for money. He was accompanied by a man called 'Bom Head'. The deceased let them inside and offered them bottles of Guinness stout. The deceased promised to give Hayden the money later that day but both men chopped and stabbed him to death. They stole a chest from the apartment.

HATE CRIME

Amnesty International has taken a keen interest in the case and had described Williamson's murder as a hate crime because of the group in which he was involved.

Dr. Randolph Williams who represented Hayden, asked the judge to be lenient because Hayden had shown remorse from the time he was arrested. He said Hayden confessed to the crime when he gave his cautioned statement and also pleaded guilty.

Williamson's body being removed

Dr. Williams said that there was tremendous violence at the time of the incident. He referred to the psychiatric report which stated that Hayden, was involved in substance abuse, namely crack cocaine up to 2002.

The judge in passing sentence said that the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crime. He said further, that the sentence should also show that a person who pleaded guilty could expect consideration for the guilty plea.

Sadly an entitlement phenomenon has come to dominate how some men engage with each other whether they are on the down low or not and the reporting of the matter as a homophobic matter directly is wrong I think.

If one wants to tag homophobia then talk about the public's repsonse and cheering outside the property as news spread in the business district of Uncle Brian's demise, even as friends and other allies came to the scene to confirm what they heard, while clearly emotional they were bashed and threatened infront of the police. Persons gladly jeered that another one has gone and more deserve to go.

I was too shaken by the news to leave JAS's offices where I was when we were landed with the sad news.

Good to see the courts working still.

Peace & tolerance

H

UWI mob beats man .........

Top: A section of a large crowd which gathered to witness the beating of a man at the UWI campus yesterday. - ANDREW WILDES Bottom: The windscreen of a police vehicle which was shattered by one of the many stones flung at the police by students after the police rescued a man accused of being a homosexual. - FABIAN LEDGISTER

GUNSHOTS ECHOED ACROSS the University of the West Indies, (UWI) as police tried to stop an angry mob of students from killing an alleged homosexual. The mob alleges that the man had attempted to 'hold down' another student in a bathroom on campus, but was chased into Taylor Hall.

"Dityman try a ting pon a yout roun a di bathroom at humanities (Faculty of Humanities and when people fin out dem ketch him a jerk off ina di bathroom, suh dem rush him," said a student who claimed to have witnessed the events.

KETCH DE B..Y BWOY

"Me a go a class wen me reach a de intersection fi go de library me see de yute a run. Me hear dem say 'ketch de b..y bwoy. Mi tink a hospital im a run go. Wen im reach Taylor an see de gate lock im neva have any wey fi run go. A so de mob ketch up wid im an start beat im till security come," a Taylorite said as he related his story to others.

SECURITY ALERT

Police say that about 6:15 p.m., they responded to an alert from the campus security, that a man was being chased by a mob from the Faculty of Humanities, to Taylor Hall. Officers from the campus station responded, but had to call for back-up to keep an angry mob of students and outsiders at bay.

"The crowd was crying for the man to be handed over so they could kill him, but police protect and serve the people and we could not allow them to do so," said Sergeant Marvin Essor, who had arrived on the scene from the onset.

"About two o'clock me see dem carry de b..y man come down here. A male made a report dat de b..yman a peep inna de bathroom pon im. He was taken to the station by the response team and was warned by the police and sent off the property. I don't know how im reach back on de property but de students spot im an decide to kill him," he said.

COPS REFUTE CLAIMS

Allegations circled that the man was stabbed, kicked, hit with a drum, and stoned, but all hell broke loose when back-up arrived and the police attempted to escort the man into a police service vehicle.

"As we put him in the vehicle, a hail of stones was being flung at us, injuring three constables and damaging a service vehicle ... We were forced to fire a few warning shots to pacify the crowd," said Sgt. Essor.

The mob would not be satisfied however, as upon hearing that he was being taken to the Papine Police Station, they followed and congregated outside the station. As the mob kept growing in size, the police made a fast decision to take him to the Half-Way Tree Police Station, where he was arrested and charged.

He was not taken to hospital, and is currently in custody at an undisclosed location.

Head of public relations at UWI, Carol Edwards, could not confirm or deny allegations, stating that she was "still collecting information to ascertain what had transpired."

It was said that the man was a student on the campus, and residents of Taylor Hall made sure to point out that it was "not a Taylorite." However, police later confirmed that he was not a student, but a young man that frequented the campus.

The alleged homosexual, 22, from a Kingston 11 address, has since been charged under the University Act with being in a restricted area .

Police say it was actually the second time that day the man had been in police custody, as he was seen about noon, loitering in the Faculty of Humanities.

"He said he was applying for a job at the hospital and was taking a short cut ... He was given a warning to stay off the campus and released," said an officer at the Mona (Campus) Police Station.

Records also indicate that he was arrested three years ago, for stealing a watch on campus.

Police at the Mona (campus) station defended students of UWI, stating that the mob was mixed with outsiders, and that they were "the aggressors."

"I work with them often and UWI students are not aggressive ... there were about 2,000 people, many of whom were outsiders, some taxi-men," said Sgt. Essor.