Mentally ill man kicks cop in chest

A man who said he suffers from schizophrenia was made the subject of a probation order after admitting to kicking a police officer in the chest.

"I was off my meds (medication)," Damion Henry told the court following his admission of guilt to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. On Monday, prosecutors in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court outlined that on March 14, Henry kicked the complainant, who is stationed at the Half-Way Tree lock-ups.

"I left my home and ended up sleeping in someone's car and they called the police. They carried me to the station and put me in the cell telling me to calm down and I just put up my foot on the gate and that's when it happened," Henry shared further.

Henry, who is blind in one eye, told Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell that he was not accompanied to court by any relative, as most of his family members live overseas.

"I have an assistant and my father lives in Old Harbour, but I don't know where to find him," the man said.

"I think he needs monitoring from the State," Burrell said, advising the probation and after-care officers to make a visit to Henry's home.

The judge then made Henry the subject of a probation order for two years on the count of assault and admonished and discharged him on the count of disorderly conduct.