Constantine 'Whiteman' Byfield - Marlon Vickerman

The family of 32-year-old taxi driver Constantine 'Whiteman' Byfield, who died after being fined by the traffic police in St Ann's Bay last month, is labelling those lawmen as liars.

Byfield's relatives, who contacted The Star, said the ticket that 'killed' the cabbie was not valued at $800 as the police previously told the newspaper, but was in fact a whooping $15,000.

When THE STAR trekked down to Steer Town, St Ann, Yvonne Daye, mother of the deceased, sought to set the record straight, first stating that her son had not been issued an $800 traffic ticket as one policeman said. "Is $15,000 on the ticket wha dem gi Whiteman. We ave the ticket. Is not $800. A de stop wha dem stop him and a pressure him get him sick and was vomiting," she said before presenting the document.

Signed by him

The traffic ticket, dated December 7, 2008, the day that Byfield died, appeared to have been signed by him and did in fact boast, both in words and numerals, a $15,000 fine. The ticket, which also appeared to have been signed by a police officer, required payment of the fine by December 28, three weeks after it was issued.

A distraught Daye said she had not exchanged any words whatsoever with the two policemen she saw at the St Ann's Bay Hospital the day her son died. "Mi nuh talk to nuh police. A lie the man dem a tell pon mi. Mi see two police at the hospital when mi go there, but dem nuh say nuttin to mi and mi nuh say nuttin to dem. A jus bawl mi a bawl from mi go there. Mi nuh ave nuh time fi talk to police," she said.

The police previously told THE STAR that the deceased man's mother had commended them for rushing her son to the hospital as he was sick and had not been taking his medication.

Suzan Williamson-Smith, one of Byfield's sister, was very emotional about the situation. "If dem did even say the ticket was $800 and leave it at dat, it wouldn't be so bad, but fi say how mi mother thank dem fi taking mi bredda to the hospital mek it worse," she said. "Dem too lie."

Not aware

The police sergeant from the St Ann's Bay Police Traffic Department, who initially spoke with THE STAR in the first story published on December 18, said he could not comment on the matter without first seeing the ticket that the family had, and verifying it. He did, however, say that he was "not aware" of a $15,000 ticket being issued. He also said that he found it strange that Daye said she had not spoken with any policemen while at the hospital, as he was informed that she had. He said he would need to speak with the team again to sort out the discrepancy.

Byfield's post-mortem report stated that the cause of death was essential hypertension intracerebral haemorrhage. He was said to have been affected by high blood pressure, for which he was on medication.

Attempts to contact the medical practitioner who conducted the post-mortem were unsuccessful.

However, another medical doctor told The Star that essential hypertension refers to persons affected by high blood pressure, but the reason as to why they are affected remains unknown.

Intracerebral haemorrhage, he continued, relates to bleeding in the brain as a result of a blood vessel being ruptured. He stated that he strongly believed that this was exactly what happened in the case of the taxi man as vomiting is a sign of raised intracranial pressure, which could result in haemorrhaging.