Head of the Drugs and Firearms Unit in the Royal Anguilla Police Force, Inspector Paul Sinclair, has spoken out sternly against assaults on Police Officers. This followed an incident where Armand Hennis attacked a Police Constable during the Summer Festival.

Inspector Paul Sinclair

The attack occurred outside the Carnival Village on the night of the Calypso Finals after Police Officers took Hennis away from the event. According to Sinclair, Officers did not handcuff Hennis when he was ushered from the venue because “it clearly hadn’t been deemed to be necessary when they brought him from the crowd inside the Carnival Village.”

The Inspector stated that after Hennis was outside, he made a “vicious attack” on a Constable in his (Sinclair’s) presence. “With full force [he] punched the officer in the face causing a laceration on the inside of the officer’s lip which required two stitches,” Sinclair disclosed.

Police Officers then forced Hennis to the ground to subdue and restrain him. Sinclair described the atmosphere at that point: “And I have to say there was quite a bit of public disquiet because people believed that we were being excessive the way we were dealing with it, by bringing him to the ground and forcibly placing the handcuffs on him.”

Inspector Sinclair explained that the onlookers probably did not see “what had happened moments before when the man lunged at the Officer and hit him full force in the face.”

Sinclair further clarified that once an Officer has been assaulted it must be ensured that no further attack can take place on the victim, any other Officer or any member of the public. “I won’t shrink from my position,” Sinclair declared. “Yes, we did use force and I believed that the force we used on that day was appropriate under the circumstances.”

The Inspector noted that the following day the man was very remorseful, blamed his actions on alcohol and admitted his guilt to the Magistrate who sentenced him (Armand Hennis) to 40 days at Her Majesty’s Prison.

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