145 / 494
144
7.28.
CoP Ellington said he was given that oral report by Rev. Miller in his
office at 103 Old Hope Road, St. Andrew, after he had spoken to Coke in Tivoli
Gardens.
Bishop Blair’s Account
19 May 2010
7.29.
In May 2010, Bishop Blair was,
inter alia,
the Political Ombudsman,
Head of the PMI, and a member of the Parole Board. His very important account
of his interaction with Christopher Coke, during evidence-in-chief, repays
quotation:
“On 19 May I initiated a call to Prime Minister Golding at
Vale Royal and sought an audience with him. He invited me
to Vale Royal and I went – as Head of the PMI. I offered to
do whatever was necessary to defuse the tension arising
from Coke’s situation. The Prime Minister agreed that I
should go into Tivoli Gardens. I felt it necessary to inform
the Opposition and I made a call to Dr. Peter Phillips and he
invited me to come to his office. I spent an hour with him
and I told him that the Prime Minister was in agreement with
my going to Tivoli Gardens. Dr. Phillips said he thought
the best thing was to go.
I tried to contact Coke and I made contact with someone in
the community who could contact him. This person escorted
me to Tivoli Gardens the same day.”
7.30.
Bishop Blair continued –
“I went in from off Spanish Town Road. It seemed that that
was the only access at the time.”
7.31.
Bishop Blair saw his effort as “a pastoral duty” and recalled that he
had performed similar roles in 1967 and in 2001. In 1967 there was “a stand
off” between the police and residents of Tivoli Gardens. In respect of 2001,
Bishop Blair said that “a problem had existed for 4 days; the security forces were