A Tobago magistrate on Monday refused bail for Clint Alexis, 25, of Breadfruit Alley in Argyle, Tobago, who is facing two charges of attempted murder in connection with a brutal cutlass attack on a British couple.The prosecution told the magistrate it was not ready to proceed. The magistrate ordered Alexis be kept in custody until the next hearing on Thursday.
While the court was in session, scores of villagers from Argyle protested outside, shouting that they had the wrong man.
A spokesperson for the Alexis family accused the police of charging Alexis only to show that they are working on the case.
Busby Thomas told the Trinidad Express, "The real perpetrator of this crime is out there somewhere. What we can say is in an effort to appease the international media and some local entities, a scapegoat was necessary. The true criminal is not Mr Alexis but the criminal justice system."
Thomas condemned the attack and wished the British couple a speedy recovery.
Inside the court, the magistrate heard some disturbing evidence from the lawyer for Alexis. Larry Williams claimed that police starved, beat and tortured Alexis while he was in custody.
He alleged that police hit Alexis on the head with a gun butt and in his ribs with a baton. The officers were identified as "Trinidad police."
Alexis was arrested last Monday and Williams claimed his client was denied food for three days until the officers from Trinidad arrived. He was eventually given chicken and bread, the lawyer said, and has been vomiting since then.
The lawyer claimed Alexis was duped into signing a statement, saying his client could barely read and did not know what he was doing.
Police denied that they beat Alexis and refused to give him food. However, the magistrate ordered a medical examination for Alexis.
One of the victims of the crime, Murium Greene, has left the Mount Hope Hospital in Trinidad and returned home to England. her husband, peter, remains in a coma at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit.
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