The Tribune

TWO years ago, a report came into The Tribune about an incident at the Aura nightclub in Atlantis.

A man had been attacked, we were told, and his foot had been severed.

Video footage was provided. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on in the footage – or what had preceeded it, but it showed very clearly a man lying on the floor with his foot hanging off, partially severed.

The Tribune duly went about trying to verify what had occurred. We very clearly remember the case two years on because of the difficulty on getting straight answers.

It was a very simple question to begin with – was someone injured in an incident at a nightclub in Atlantis? The responses were not forthcoming.

Our reporters spoke to an eyewitness who heard a woman screaming for help then saw a man lying on the floor with his ankle “in a weird twisty direction”. The eyewitness described gagging at the sight of the blood and said that everyone was told to leave, while three police officers arrived.

Atlantis representatives declined to comment. The incident happened on a Sunday. The Tribune published a report on the Tuesday. By the time of publication, police had provided no comment.

Almost a month later, The Tribune reported again on the incident, having been told that a police investigation was ongoing.

A further video had been seen by The Tribune at this point, and an individual seen in that video was identified to our reporters as having been involved in the scuffle.

Atlantis again declined to comment.

And that was that. Until, in today’s Tribune, the victim in that incident has spoken out about how he feels there was a lack of justice in his case.

Charles Sinn says the wound was caused by a man sawing at his ankle with a knife.

He told The Tribune of his two-year journey of recovery and search for justice – justice he has not yet found.

He said: “I was almost murdered by an entire family on the middle of a nightclub, and the Bahamas police just let them go.”

Mr Sinn says no meaningful action has ever been taken. He said police arrested the alleged assailants but released them. He says he identified his attackers twice to police, but no charges were laid.

Mr Sinn tried to take legal action in Florida – a civil suit – but was told The Bahamas was the jurisdiction for such a case. He has little faith in our system bringing an outcome with any measure of justice.

The Tribune has again asked police about the case. There has been a change of Police Commissioner since the attack, and Commissioner Shanta Knowles has promised to look into the matter.

There is more to this case that will emerge. But it is horrific that someone could suffer these kinds of injuries – the photographs are particularly graphic – and not receive any kind of justice.

We have heard names of the alleged attackers. We have seen video in which faces can clearly be seen. We have been informed by sources of who these alleged attackers are. So why did it end there?

As we say, there is more to come. We hope that the police will respond swiftly this time – and that the victim will not be left to feel as if he has been abandoned, while his attackers have been free to go, without any kind of punishment.