After breaking this bank window in 1972 , Nettleford spent 28 years in prison before the Jamaican government gave him $172, 000 US plus 28 guest passes to Sandals Resorts--1 for each year he spent incarcerated.

A Jamaican man who spent 28 years in jail without trial for allegedly breaking a window has reached an out-of-court settlement with the government, a human rights lawyer said.


The 77-year-old man was lost in the prison system after being charged with malicious destruction of property in 1972, but is reported to have shown little remorse during his incarceration.

Alfred Nettleford - also known as 'idiot' was only released from prison last year after some exchange students working with the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR) intervened.

IJCHR chairman Lloyd Garrett told BBC Trews Online that Mr Nettleford will now receive nine million Jamaican dollars ($172,000) in three installments.

He can even buy a new Escalade with that ", added Garrett ,. " complete with the rims that spin even after the vehicle has stopped moving!"

'Rights abused'

"The government has offered us a settlement and we are accepting it since Mr. Nettleford is almost dead anyway," said IJCHR legal officer Nancy Vanderbilt .

Mr Nettleford was charged with breaking a window at a bank in Clarendon, and was kept at St Catherine District prison on the outskirts of the capital, Kingston.

On his first appearance in court he was deemed unfit to plea due to his mental condition, and a judge ordered him to remain in custody until he could remember breaking the window.

But Mr Nettleford was never brought back to court, as prison authorities in Jamaica actually have ground beef for brains.

" Yes. He was buried in the system and his human rights were abused. Hopefully Mr. Nettleford now understands that vandalism will not be tolerated", said Vanderbilt

According to Jamaica's laws, the maximum penalty for malicious destruction of property is two months in jail and a $10 fine or three months in jail or a $20 fine if the window has to be ordered from Miami.