By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE ST. JAMES Parish Council is now offering assistance to Errol Campbell the man who was released from the Tower Street Adult Correctional facility on Tuesday, after languishing in prison for 24 years without being tried.
The assistance is in response to a request from the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR).
Jerimiah Dehaney, Inspector of Poor for St. James, said Mr. Campbell is being housed at the infirmary until permanent arrangements are made for him. Mr. Campbell moved into the establishment on Thursday.
In a release issued yesterday, Mr. Dehaney said that Mr. Campbell is occupying a room at the infirmary that became vacant after the death of a patient on October 11.
He added that the Parish Council will carry out investigations in an effort to locate members of Mr. Campbell's family.
Under the Poor Relief Act, the Inspector of Poor is empowered to make provision for persons who, upon investigation, are deemed to be in need of subsistence as they are unable to provide for themselves and do not have anyone to care for them.
Campbell, who is a mason by trade, was charged in 1979 with shooting with intent at a policeman. He was subsequently declared unfit to plead and was locked away.
Attorney-at-law Nancy Anderson, of the IJCHR, discovered his case after he had not been in court for many years. Mr. Campbell was released on Tuesday after the Crown offered no evidence against him.
