Bequia residents unhappy with police handling of drowning

The death of Terrance ‘Badgie’ Andrews, a 26-year-old Bequia seaman, has left some persons on that Northern Grenadine Island somewhat bitter. They are not pleased with the manner in which the matter was handled by the police.

Andrews is known to have suffered from epilepsy, and around 11 last Tuesday morning, he entered the waters off Admiralty Bay, near to the Port Elizabeth wharf.{{more}}

He is believed to have had a seizure while in the sea and found himself in difficulty.

Andrews’ brother Patrick Hutchins, a Customs officer on Bequia, was one who expressed dissatisfaction with the Police handling of the matter.

Andrews’ relatives contend that his body was floating in the water for about 25 minutes before it was transferred to land.

“The Police treated this like a crime scene more than an accident,” Patrick Hutchins said.

“They assumed he was dead before they tried anything,” he added.

Hutchins’ suggestion is that the “police need to be taught how to respond in an emergency.” He reasoned that “it might not have changed anything, but a lot of people would have felt better.”

“People were standing there and looking at the Police not doing anything,” Hutchins stated. Andrews’ mother Pamela Hackshaw endorsed Hutchins’ view. She was distraught over the loss of her son, but his final moments have made her angry at the way the Police operated.

Brian Mayers, who works at a resort near to the wharf, decried the actions of both the Police and the Nurse.

He stated that the Nurse did not allow them to put the body in the ambulance on the grounds that it was “too dirty.”

Mayers transported the body to the hospital in a Ford Club wagon.

“We just grieved on the whole situation. The whole ah Bequia cursing,” Mayers went on.

A police officer attached to the Public Relations and Complaints Department did not wish to comment on the matter, except to confirm Andrews’ name and age. Officers at the Port Elizabeth Police Station referred SEARCHLIGHT to the Public Relations and Complaints Department when contacted on the matter.