Reynold Roberts wants to be compensated by the St Maarten authorities after he was bitten by a dog controlled by immigration authorities during an operation in December last year.

Roberts said he was in a community in Philipsburg, the capital of St Maarten, when immigration police came around to check the status of some persons.

"The immigration come in the area and I was walking and the police let go the dog on mi," he said.

Roberts admitted that he ran, but said the officers released the dogs on him and even when he was shouting for help, they did not stop the animal.

"The dog all have me a ground a twist and a turn and all him (the officer) a tell mi is don't run," he said.

Roberts said the police handcuffed him and put him on a bus and took him to the Philipsburg Police Station and then to hospital, where he was treated and released.

"The doctor gave me two stitches and a prescription and they lock me up until Saturday (January 1) they release me," he said.

sleep on concrete floor

Roberts was deported to Jamaica immediately after he was released as he had overstayed his time. But Roberts said he was very upset that he had been forced to stay in the lock-up and sleep on concrete floors while the police ignored his complaints of being in pain.

"I get no compensation. At the station, dem mock and jeer me and call me all sorts of names," he said.

Roberts said when he returned to Jamaica he had to see a doctor immediately because he was still in pain.

no statement

Inspector Richard Henson, the police spokesman who promised to look into the matter, was still unable to provide THE STAR with a statement on the police version of the incident six weeks later.

Earlier this month, The Daily Herald, St Maarten's newspaper, reported that many Jamaicans living on the island were upset about the incident where the police had set a dog on a Jamaican. According to the report, the police said the man was to be blamed as he tried to escape from the police.

According to that article, the man had jumped through a window and pulled a weapon from his waist when the dog was released. The police said the man had since been deported and that they found out that weapon was a blade that had been used in a recent armed robbery.

Roberts said he has visited a lawyer locally to see what options of redress he has. He said the attorney directed him to try and make contact with a lawyer in St Maarten who could pursue the matter for him.