Bryan claims conspiracy over charges
Kenneth Bryan (left) with Premier Alden McLaughlin
(CNS): The former political assistant to the premier denied assaulting a police officer when he took the stand Monday in a case that has rolled on for more than a year. In emotional testimony Kenneth Bryan, a local reporter and talk show host told the magistrate that he had “assaulted no one”, let alone a member of the RCIPS. Bryan raised concerns that a simple count of disorderly conduct had been trumped up to a much more damaging list of charges in a conspiracy that he implied went to the top of the police service and high political office.
“What is being presented by prosecution is not a fair assessment and no one is willing to come and tell the truth,” Bryan said, as indicated that the charges had been trumped up to undermine any possible future political career he may have.
From the stand, Bryan recounted the events of October 2014 when he came to the assistance of an off-duty female police officer who was being threatened by her former lover outside a nightclub on the West Bay Road. Having taken refuge in Bryan’s car, she attracted her angry ex-boyfriend, and although she made her escape, the violent man and another male witness to the incident began a fight in the carpark near to the club.
Having witnessed this chain of events, when the police arrived Bryan tried to convey the details of the incident to officers, he said, because they had immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion, arresting the second man but letting the violent ex-boyfriend go. The man who was hurling abuse and threats at his one-time girlfriend had a warrant out for his arrest but the police allowed him to leave and arrested the man who had come to help instead.
Because Bryan knew PC Peart, one of the more senior officers at the scene ,very well, he approached him and began to explain. However, another officer that Bryan did not not know aggressively directed him away from the scene, stopping him from relating his eye-witness evidence.
Bryan admits he used the term “blood clot” as he was directed away by Officer Myers and when he threatened to arrest Bryan for cursing, they argued about the severity of the words. Bryan said he did not act aggressively but was engaged in a frustrating exchange with the officer. As they argued, a second officer whom he knew pulled him away.
He thought the incident had been defused but when he turned to face officer Myers, he threatened him with arrest for using the curse word, which Bryan repeated, as he argued it was not cursing. As a result he was arrested, he said, and despite his efforts to help another police officer, he found himself in handcuffs in the back of a police car racing along the West Bay Road without a seatbelt on.
Bryan said that at the station the charge on the bail sheet was just disorderly conduct. It was added to before he left at Myers direction but even then, there were no assaulting police charges, Bryan said. Following a discussion outside the custody suite with PC Peart and other officers, including the off-duty female officer who came to the police station after he was bailed, Bryan was under the impression that the police believed there had been a misunderstanding and the case would be dropped.
However, this turned out not to be the case.
After his interview a few weeks later he was charged with a list of offences, including assault on police, which appeared to stem from allegations that Bryan had pointed his finger at the officer. He said that, up to that point, at no time was the charge of assault raised but emerged after a different and more senior officer was put on the case.
“It blows my mind that I was charged with assault. I don’t know how else to express it,” Bryan said. “The truth is that I was trying to help the police, not obstruct them, but they were implying I was aggressive and assaulting police.”
Bryan told the magistrate that because he had such a good relationship with officer Peart, all he was trying to do was tell him what had actually happened. Upset and emotional, Bryan said, “I didn’t assault the police. I am the first to assist the police and now they have me on an assault charge. Ma’am, I did not assault anyone.”
In the days between his arrest and his return to the police station for interview Bryan began drafting a press statement in conjunction with some PPM party executives because the local media were making enquiries. Even though that statement was never released, it landed in the hands of the police commissioner, whose staff said it had come from the premier’s office.
With rumours reaching him that Officer Myers was indicating that it was not his decision to push the case forward or include police assault, along with other unexplained incidents, Bryan said he had come to the view that the charges against him were made as serious as possible, regardless of the reality of the night’s events, to undermine his potential future career.
Bryan told the judge that he was fired from the premier’s office before his case was heard and he feared that his efforts to help a police officer had ended in a threat to his whole future. He was emphatic that the only bad word he used was “blood clot” and told the court that the type of phrases and language the police officers claimed he used were wrong. He said they were phrases that he was completely unfamiliar with.
When asked about the police account of the night and Bryan using the word “fuck”, he said, “I say it is a lie … I would never use the word ‘fuck’ to the police. It’s illogical and does not make any sense. Why would I be assisting a police officer and then assault one, putting my job, my reputation, my children’s future on the line?”
Bryan repeated his concern about the late emergence of an assault charge against him because it was the sort of offence that could prevent him from running for office, as he pointed the finger at his former boss. “From my perspective, I believe it was an opportunity for the premier to get rid of me,” he said.
The case, which began in August but was adjourned owing to timetabling problems, continues Wednesday in Court 4.
