Indecent assault guilty verdict against doctor
Dr Franklin Perkins
The East Caribbean High Court in Montserrat concluded the week’s criminal assizes with the unanimous guilty verdict returned in the matter where a medical practitioner was charged with indecent assault of a patient in March this year.
The verdict has and will surprise many as the whole question of trial by ‘jury’ gets into the spotlight once again.
Our report posted on March 3 read as follows: On Wednesday evening (March 1) in the ZJB evening news a report which turned out to be shocking on the one hand and not so surprising on the other. “Police say they have arrested a medical practitioner for allegedly indecently assaulting a patient. A senior police officer told ZJB News that the investigation is in an infancy stage and that the medical doctor is now assisting the police with their investigation.”
Director of Public Prosecutions D.P.P. Oris Sullivan
Today it’s been reported: “A medical practitioner who was in February this year charged for indecently assaulting a patient has been found guilty. The nine-member jury of five women and four men, returned the unanimous guilty verdict against Dr. Franklin Perkins…”
Dr Perkins who was charged for indecently assaulting a nineteen-year-old female in his private surgery at Cudjoe Head, has been granted bail pending sentencing in March next year.
Reportedly, the sixty-seven-year-old doctor told the court that he has been practising on Montserrat for the past 27 years most of which have been in the employ of the government of Montserrat as an anesthesiologist.
Senior Counsel David S. Brandt
The court heard from five prosecution witnesses while the defence called Dr Perkins and his wife as witnesses. Director of Public Prosecutions D.P.P. Oris Sullivan, senior Crown counsel Kenroy Hyman and crown counsel Cora Galloway presented for the crown. While Dr. Perkins was represented by senior counsels, David S. Brandt and Karl Marham.
Doctors in back in March had expressed concern at the arrest of Perkins after they heard the preliminary charge. The doctors revealed that while in court they learnt that the charges were brought on the accusation that the Doctor had touched the woman’s breasts, her abdomen and her buttocks.
Senior Counsel Karl Marham
One doctor said: “If you have to walk into a doctor’s office and get examined and you come out and you can go to the police station and accuse this person who you went to see as assaulting you with the mere fact that you have been examined, is really serious.”
Meanwhile the concern expressed by another doctor said: “As medical professionals we spend a lot of time with patients and therefore we’re particularly vulnerable to accusations like this,” adding, “and therefore I think as a team we’ve got to put things in place to make sure that such things don’t happen again…”
One other doctor who reportedly has since left the island, had said, the allegations against Dr. Perkins was a serious against the ‘medical profession’ in Montserrat. He had said he was very uncomfortable with the thought that he can end up in the ‘lock-up’, “so, I’m leaving – its goodbye Montserrat.”
(see: https://www.themontserratreporter.com/doctors-plan-strike-in-indecent-assault-arrest/)
