Despite needing monetary assistance for heart surgery, record producer and philanthropist Claude “Big Stone” Sinclair decided to lend a helping hand to 72-year-old George Williams, the mentally ill man who was incarcerated for 50 years without a trial.
Last Thursday, Sinclair donated over $50,000 in cash and household supplies to Williams, explaining that upon reading about his plight in the Jamaica Observer he could not turn a blind eye.
“[I’m] suffering from a heart condition, but [my] problem is not even as grave as Mr Williams’ problem. I thought about what can be done to help Mr Williams to bring him back to a sense of dignity and give him back his pride, because he’s a human being and that has been robbed from him,” Sinclair told the Sunday Observer.
Sinclair, who said he was told by doctors he needed an angiography costing US$40,000 ($2.8 million), hopes his gesture will encourage more people to step forward and assist Williams.
“We just gave him $40,000 and we had some care packages that we purchased, so a little bit over $50,000. We only hope that other people can follow suit and assist him,” he added, noting that he managed to raise the funds through the support from the Rudolph Prendergast and Real Helping Hands foundations.
Last Wednesday, the Observer highlighted the squalid conditions in which Williams is living and reported his niece, Pamela Green, saying she was not pleased. She insisted that he should be compensated by the State because the legal system stole five decades of his life and has literally abandoned him.
“Since George Williams was released a year now, from the 24th of June, 2020, he hasn’t received any form of compensation. Sometimes it’s not enough, but we as a family try to do what we can do. We cannot do everything, but we try our best [and] we haven’t heard anything from the Government, nothing at all,” Green had told the Observer.
“He’s staying in Linstead, [St Catherine,] that was the old house from those days until now. The floor is falling, the ceiling is falling, it’s an outside toilet. We are living in a better age now, so we need something to be done so he can be more comfortable. It is rough, and then the living facility is in a deplorable condition, he needs proper housing,” she added.
Moved to tears by the story, Sinclair stated: “I know 50 years being taken away from you, they should’ve given you millions of dollars so that you can live in a nice, beautiful home. We are going to pledge our support to open up an avenue so that people from all over the world will know of your story and they will reach out to help you.”
Adding that Williams should be treated with respect and dignity, Sinclair further stated: “When your [life] was taken from you, robbed by the system, having not been [convicted] with a crime, suspected of committed a crime, but not been convicted with a crime, it bleeds my heart. So, when I read about it, it brought me to tears when I looked at some of the photographs captured.”
Following a national outcry over the death of 81-year-old Noel Chambers, Williams’ case was brought up for review, and both men were among seven mentally ill men identified in an Independent Commission of Investigations report on the men who had each spent at least 40 years in prison awaiting trial.
The police reported that Williams had been arrested and charged with the murder of a man in July 1970, but was subsequently declared unfit to plead as he was at the time diagnosed with schizophrenia.
On Thursday, Green said Sinclair’s donation proved that there are some people who care and are willing to help.
“I am feeling elated to know that the story released yesterday [Wednesday] and to find out that we know someone out there cares and I have to give thanks to Mr Sinclair for reaching out although it’s raining. I just want to say thanks and I hope others out there will reach out and do the same,” Green said.
She also said that members of the family are keeping their fingers crossed that the Government will compensate her uncle.
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