A pregnant mother was placed in the East La Penitence Police Station lock-ups last evening after she was arrested for failing to attend court as a witness.
The arrest was made without an arrest warrant while the woman was at her home.
The Michelle Lynch, of 165 Laing Avenue and who is seven months pregnant, was picked up from her home by male police officers, who took her to the East La Penitence Police Station, where she was detained up to press time.
Lynch, 41, was placed in the lock-ups for about 15 minutes after which she was placed to sit on a bench in the station. She said that she was told that she had to remain at the station until today, when she will be taken to court.
Lynch stated that earlier in the day, she was at a clinic when an officer called her and told her she needed to be at the Magistrates’ Court to give evidence in a murder inquiry. She said she indicated to the officer that she was at clinic, since she is pregnant. She told this newspaper that after she had left the clinic, she tried to make contact with the officer that called her to see when she could go to court but she was unsuccessful.
According to Lynch, she was at home around 4pm yesterday when the policemen went to her home and told her that she was needed at the station but they did not indicate a reason.
She stated that when she asked the reason why she was being arrested, a male police officer instructed her to “go and sit down on the bench, we gon tell you later.”
Lynch also said that she was then asked to sign a document and was then placed in the lock-ups. She noted that she spent about 15 minutes in the cell, after which she was taken out and placed on a chair to sit in the station.
Her husband, Raphael Charles, said that he was not at home when Lynch called him and told him the police wanted her at the station. Charles also said that she indicated to him that he needed to go home to their two children, ages four and one. The man said that he was forced to leave the children unattended and let the four year old look after the smaller child until their 11-year-old sibling returned home from lessons.
He also said that no female officers went to arrest his wife. The woman’s husband is seeking answers as to why she was arrested without a warrant and if it is protocol for pregnant women to be placed in police lock-ups.
