Two cops avoid jail, third out on bail after sentencing in Mario Deane Case

The three police officers convicted in the 2014 fatal beating of 31-year-old construction worker Mario Deane while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station will not be serving prison time immediately following their sentencing on Tuesday in the Westmoreland Circuit Court.

District Constables Marlon Grant and Juliana Clevon were each given suspended sentences of three years for manslaughter and one year for misconduct in a public office. High Court Justice Courtney Daye ordered both sentences to run concurrently, with the manslaughter sentence suspended for three years and the misconduct sentence suspended for two years—meaning neither officer will serve prison time unless they breach the terms of their suspension.

Meanwhile, Corporal Elaine Stewart, who was also convicted on May 22, received a five-year sentence for manslaughter, along with one-year sentences for misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice. Her sentences are to run concurrently, meaning she would serve five years in custody. However, her attorney has filed a notice of appeal, and she was granted bail pending the outcome.

The three officers were on duty at the Barnett Street lock-up in Montego Bay, St James, when Deane was taken into custody on August 3, 2014, for possession of a ganja spliff. He was beaten while in detention and died three days later on August 6. Stewart was additionally accused of ordering the cleaning of Deane’s cell prior to the arrival of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), the body tasked with probing the incident.

Mario Deane’s mother, Mercia Fraser, said she was dissatisfied with the outcome of the case.

“I’m just disappointed because of the kind of beating Mario get and the stand inside the station and everything, I was expecting more,” Fraser said. “It shows me that in spite of all these years… it seems like his life really means nothing. To me that is how I look at it, I am disappointed.”

All three officers had been found guilty by a seven-member jury in May after a lengthy trial.