‘Police left him to die’

JOHNLANE RAMKISSOON broke down in tears yesterday as he recounted holding his bleeding nephew-in-law, Dillon Lucas after he was stabbed outside a club in Debe on Sunday morning.

Ramkissoon, 33, said Dillon Lucas could have survived being stabbed three times by another man if police had heeded his cries for help and taken Lucas to the hospital.

Speaking at his niece, Shantal Roysam’s St Croix Road, Barrackpore home yesterday Ramkissoon recounted pushing past a crowd of people to find Lucas unresponsive and bleeding profusely. Lucas had been stabbed in the neck, chest and stomach. The man who stabbed him was also stabbed by Lucas and is warded at the San Fernando General Hospital in stable condition under police guard.

Lucas, 31, and Roysam, 22, had been in a common-law relationship for the past year. She was inconsolable yesterday and sat on a chair clutching a photo of herself and Lucas. Relatives said Lucas, who was originally from Moruga, was a father of five.

Ramkissoon said their group of nine friends, including five young women, had gone to Cloud 9 nightclub in Debe on Saturday night.

He said around 2.30 am several men began harassing his nieces and his nephew, Kailash Seepersad, told the men to leave the young women alone.

“There was about three or four fellas harassing the girls in our group and my nephew Kailash told them about it but one of the fellas pull out a knife and stab Kailash in his hand,” Ramkissoon recounted.

“They went outside and Dilly went to talk to them and the same man scramble him and start to stab him.”

Ramkissoon said the two fought for several minutes before Lucas collapsed.

“When I run out and see him, he was in the middle of the road bleeding out and I take off my jersey and vest and was pressing against his neck and chest.”

But what Ramkissoon said was even more heartbreaking was the response of police.

“I was in the middle of the road, cars speeding past us and I was bawling and begging them to carry him to the hospital, begging them to call an ambulance and they did nothing. After about 20 minutes, they left and tell us meet them in the hospital.”

Ramkissoon said he begged another man to transport Lucas, who he said was still breathing, to hospital.

“I hold his neck, I know he was breathing, when I let him go in the hospital he was still alive and then two minutes later they came out and said he didn’t make it.”

Seepersad, who was also present during the interview, said he too believes if Lucas had been rushed to hospital, he may have lived.

“The police were cursing us and saying they don’t have time with no fight, if they did pick up the man and at least put him in a jeep, the doctors could have saved his life,” Seepersad said.