Grenada police charged in Toronto man's death get bail
Five police officers charged with manslaughter in the death of a Toronto man in Grenada have been granted bail after a court appearance Friday.
The officers applied for bail in the island town of St. David's, where it's alleged they beat Oscar Bartholomew into a coma on Boxing Day. He died the following day in hospital.
A judge ordered the accused to surrender their passports, report daily to authorities and avoid visiting the police station where they worked.
None of the officers had posted the $37,000 bond as of late Friday morning.
Bartholomew, who was from Grenada but had permanent resident status in Canada, was visiting relatives in the Caribbean country over the Christmas holidays. He and his Canadian wife had arrived in Grenada on Dec. 23.
Relatives say he had stopped at the police station in St. David's on Dec. 26 because his wife needed to use the restroom. They say he hugged a plainclothes policewoman whom he had mistaken for a friend and lifted her off the ground before realizing his error.
Bartholomew's family said an independent autopsy found he died of trauma to the head and multiple injuries to the body. A state autopsy report came to similar but less-detailed conclusions.
The case has caused outrage and protests in Grenada. Since the manslaughter charges were announced, demonstrators have taken to the streets of the island nation to denounce what they say is endemic police brutality.
Earlier in the week, a lawyer for the dead man's family said he would be suing the police force employing the officers who are charged in the case for wrongful death.
Derick Sylvester said he would be seeking damages for Bartholomew's widow and his three children.
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| Oscar Bartholomew, seen in this undated photo, died Dec. 27 in Grenada. Five police officers face manslaughter charges. |
Five police officers charged with manslaughter in the death of a Toronto man in Grenada have been granted bail after a court appearance Friday.
The officers applied for bail in the island town of St. David's, where it's alleged they beat Oscar Bartholomew into a coma on Boxing Day. He died the following day in hospital.
A judge ordered the accused to surrender their passports, report daily to authorities and avoid visiting the police station where they worked.
None of the officers had posted the $37,000 bond as of late Friday morning.
Bartholomew, who was from Grenada but had permanent resident status in Canada, was visiting relatives in the Caribbean country over the Christmas holidays. He and his Canadian wife had arrived in Grenada on Dec. 23.
Relatives say he had stopped at the police station in St. David's on Dec. 26 because his wife needed to use the restroom. They say he hugged a plainclothes policewoman whom he had mistaken for a friend and lifted her off the ground before realizing his error.
Bartholomew's family said an independent autopsy found he died of trauma to the head and multiple injuries to the body. A state autopsy report came to similar but less-detailed conclusions.
The case has caused outrage and protests in Grenada. Since the manslaughter charges were announced, demonstrators have taken to the streets of the island nation to denounce what they say is endemic police brutality.
Earlier in the week, a lawyer for the dead man's family said he would be suing the police force employing the officers who are charged in the case for wrongful death.
Derick Sylvester said he would be seeking damages for Bartholomew's widow and his three children.
