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Prince Headley shows the electronic device on his leg placed on him by UK authorities. - Gladstone Taylor
A Jamaican man has apparently been mistakenly deported with an electronic tracking device strapped to his foot. But despite several attempts, he has not found any Jamaican authorities to remove it.
Prince Headley, 41, told THE STAR on Tuesday that before being deported from the United Kingdom (UK) in October, he had attempted to remind the authorities about the electronic device but he was sent to Jamaica without it being removed.
"This tagging is so embarrassing because I cannot go to the beach in peace and I can't sleep at nights because it is so uncomfortable. Whenever I go out in the public in short pants I am the centre of attraction, one woman saw the tagging on my foot and asked me if I am a paedophile," he said.
Headley had migrated to the UK in 1994 after his mother filed for him.
However, while there he was convicted on drug-related offences on two different occasions and served time totalling seven years starting from the year 2000.
According to Headley, because of his strong family ties in the UK, he wasn't deported until 2009 because he was fighting to stay in the country.
"I was deported in 2009, but I went back to the UK in 2010 illegally and I was held at the Harmondsworth Detention Centre. In August of this year while at the centre, the tagging was placed on me," he said.
Before he was to be deported Headley said that he showed the device to the security personnel but they said that they were not the ones to take it off. "I was told that it is the UK Border Agency responsibility; but when I spoke to them about it, they ignored me and sent me out of the country," Headley told THE STAR.
He further reasoned, "When I arrived in Jamaica, I spoke to the airport police, immigration personnel and I even went to the British High Commission and they told me that they can't do anything about it and that I should get a lawyer."
When asked why he hasn't tried to remove the electronic device since arriving in Jamaica, Headley said, "I have my three kids and my other close family in the UK and I am gonna fight my case to return to the UK. I cannot remove it. In addition, my attorney has advised me that I should not even make an attempt to remove it because it should be legally removed."
When THE STAR contacted a senior police officer, he said this was not a police matter and THE STAR should contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
When contacted, Ann-Margaret Lim, head of public relations at the ministry, also pointed out that it wasn't up to them to deal with this case.
She, however, made contact with the British High Commission on the matter. "We have spoken to the British High Commission and they said that they are going to deal with the matter," she said.
Prince Headley shows the electronic device on his leg placed on him by UK authorities. - Gladstone Taylor
