(Jamaica Observer) The Jamaican police have rubbished claims by sections of the British media and gays rights activists that the killing of British diplomat, John Terry, was a homophobic attack.
Terry was found strangled in his house at Mount Carey, just outside the tourist mecca of Montego Bay, St James on Thursday. His nude body was wrapped in a sheet and Scene Of Crime detectives discovered a handwritten note in the four-bedroom house, which allegedly stated the reason why Terry met his demise.
Police said the letter suggested that the crime may have been the end result of a lovers’ spat.
Head of Serious and Organised Crime, Assistant Commissioner Les Green, said the evidence pointed away from a hate crime.
“I don’t think it is a homophobic attack, although it’s been run in the UK press. It isn’t consistent with the information that we have. It is unlikely,” Green told the Sunday Observer.
Residents of Mount Carey told police and reporters that a young man was seen running from Terry’s home and had asked for directions to take a taxi into Montego Bay.
Crime scene experts have reported that the evidence at Terry’s home would suggest that he knew his attacker and had possibly let his attacker inside the confines of his home.
There was no sign of forced entry and neighbours reported seeing a young man in his company in the days leading up to his murder.
Jamaica has long been lambasted by the gay community for its perceived intolerance of the gay lifestyle, which is often exacerbated by the anti-gay lyrics of some dancehall artistes.
But according to Green, while there have been attacks against homosexuals, few have ended in death.
“There have been attacks mainly in the Corporate Area but they have never ended in murder. There are openly gay people in Jamaica and they live quite openly and mingle freely,” Green said.
