THE MOTHER OF a disabled child called yesterday for the doubling of penalties for those who commit crimes against people with disabilities and the elderly.
Joy-Ann Haigh, a communications specialist and mother of a girl with a disability, made the suggestion on Voice of Barbados’ Sunday Brass Tacks programme yesterday.
Haigh, a panellist on the two-hour programme, said the law needed to be changed “in terms of assault against a person with a disability”.
“. . . Let us say that that sentence carries three years. I personally would like to see it doubled if it is proven that you [the perpetrator] had knowledge that the person is mentally challenged and carries the capacity of a six-year-old,” she said.
“The same [goes] for those persons who are . . . physically challenged, and even the elderly. There is no way you can tell me you attacked a 90-year-old man and don’t know he is of that age and [the attacker] can carry the same punishment as if he attacked [a young person].” (TY)
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