Noel Thompson, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Popular Montego Bay businessman Dr Lee Bailey has been fuming since Wednesday, after gunmen attacked and severely beat his wife, leaving her for dead at their home in the upscale community of Spring Farm, Rose Hall.

Judith Bailey, 55, is now in intensive care at a private hospital in Kingston.

"She has sustained a broken collar bone and the bones in her face have been broken," confirmed Bailey.

Immobile cops

The businessman claimed yesterday that the incident could have been prevented had the police responded immediately after calls were made to them.

He said the police claimed they were immobile at the time of the call.

"It should never be that a country's private security firms should have more sophisticated equipment than the national security forces. That is a dangerous precedent."

Bailey said his wife suffered from anxiety and he could only imagine how she might have reacted in a fit of panic during her ordeal, which could have resulted in the men beating her continuously and so severely in their efforts to keep her quiet.

Detective Inspector Michael Garrick, the acting crime officer for St James, told The Gleaner yesterday that he was not aware that a police unit was unavailable when a call was made from the Baileys' residence.

"I have not received any report of that type up to this time," he said.

Bailey said his helper and gardener were at home about midday Wednesday when two armed men entered the premises and tied up the latter. He said that, on seeing the men, calls were made to the police, but they said they had no vehicle.

"Had they had a vehicle, the situation could have been prevented because they would have been able to get to the area," he said. "When the police finally got there, the men had already escaped. They could only be reactive and not proactive in such an instance."

Only last week, gunmen robbed Mrs Bailey of an undisclosed amount of money in the car park outside her office and escaped.

Garrick said investigations were continuing in to the matter.