Man’s sight affected after beating

Jul 30, 2017 News

The injured Linden Hastings at the hospital

Two months after his head was smashed into a wall by a soldier, 57-year-old Linden Hastings’s sight in both eyes has been affected. In fact, since the incident he has been unable to read the newspapers.

“When I got home from the hospital the medication that I was using was not helping with the headache and now I can hardly see through my eyes. I used to read now I have to wear glasses to read and even that is proving to be difficult when it comes to reading the papers.”

When Commander of Police D’ Division, Leslie James, was contacted he said that a file on the matter has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice.

Hastings in an interview with this publication stated that after the June 8 article was published a few police officers went to his home and took another statement from him regarding the altercation.

Hastings said that the following day after giving the police a statement he received a phone call and was instructed to go to the station where he met and had a confrontation with the soldier. He said that he was told by a police officer to relate his side of what transpired, last when he went to the Mosque to pray.

The man said that after he left the station he went to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) where he was informed that the file was sent for them to recommend charges against the soldier who assaulted him.

He noted that the soldier was arrested but has been released on station bail.

The man said that for now he is just relaxing at home waiting for the court date since he cannot work as a result of his injuries. “Right now I’m just at home because I’m still feeling a lot of pain and still using a lot of medication.”

Hastings received his injuries while he was attending service at the Mosque; he told the soldier that the young woman he had invited to sit in the male section of the Mosque was not acceptable due to the fact that she was not a Muslim.

He said that after the soldier and the woman left the Mosque, he too left. He said that he went outside to perform ‘wudu’ which is a ritual washing performed in preparation for prayers.

It was while he was outside the soldier confronted him and began verbally abusing him before punching him to the face and hitting his head to the wall several times until he passed out.

His wife who was at the upper floor of the Mosque had to render assistance to him after she saw him lying motionless on the ground.

With the assistance of a taxi driver who helped her to put him in the vehicle, they rushed him to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

He was then transferred to the GPHC where he was admitted and underwent several tests, one being a CT scan which showed that he sustained a fractured skull.

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