A woman has told how former Speaker of the House McKeeva Bush gave her an unwanted “hickey” on her hand at a government cocktail reception.
The victim said she was not angry or traumatised by the incident but found it “weird” and “creepy”.
As she attempted to process what happened in the moments that followed, she said the thought in her head was more incredulous than outraged.
“The Speaker of the House actually bit me. I don’t understand that at all. That’s the most bizarre thing that has ever happened.”
The woman, one of two alleged victims in Bush’s ongoing indecent assault trial, made the remarks in a taped police interview that was played to the jury Thursday afternoon.
She described encountering Bush, in what she believed was a drunken state, near the bar at the event at The Ritz-Carlton. She said her previous relationship with the veteran politician had always been friendly and they hugged in greeting.
At some point, she said, he ended up taking hold of her hand.
She said she believed he was trying to kiss her hand and ended up sucking it instead.
“It didn’t hurt; it just felt odd and creepy. It was uncomfortable and I thought ‘I’ve just got to get out of here’.”
It was only later that a colleague pointed out the bite marks on her hand.
“I looked and there were little tiny teeth indentations on my hand,” she said.
The woman, who was at the event in a work capacity, called her husband and informed superiors at her office but didn’t photograph the bite marks, which disappeared by the next morning.
“I didn’t call the police. I am not sure it is a crime to be a drunk, old dude putting a hickey on a hand,” she added.
She said she felt the behaviour was inappropriate and she had been concerned about Bush being apparently drunk at a government function.
“I don’t have the energy for this kind of stuff… I have a (child), I have 14 jobs… I don’t have time for creepy old men to be grabbing me.”
Despite her concerns about what happened, she said she had always been on friendly terms with the former Speaker and had always enjoyed talking with him.
Earlier in the day, another witness – the other alleged victim in a separate incident the same night – described seeing the bite marks and drawing a picture of them at the request of investigating officers in the case.
That sketch was shown to the jury on Thursday.
“If anyone has a child and they have bit you, you can see the top teeth and the bottom teeth; that’s what I was trying to draw,” she said.
Embarrassed and uncomfortable
The woman also gave evidence, earlier in the day, about her own interaction with Bush, which forms a second allegation of indecent assault.
She said she was left feeling “embarrassed and uncomfortable” after the former premier hugged her and kissed her twice on the shoulder at the reception.
The woman said she had silently tolerated similar unwanted behaviour from men in the past, but had decided to speak up on this occasion in the hope that something might change.
“I am not a little girl any more. I am 45 now and I am upset I am reduced to feeling like a little girl,” she said in a police interview, a video recording of which was played to the jury at the ongoing Grand Court trial on Thursday.
The woman added that she had a daughter and hoped that speaking out might make men think differently about how they treat women.
She told officers she had thought hard before making a statement and wondered if she should just ‘move on’.
“I said, I am just going to be brave and talk about it,” she stated.
She said her discomfort was magnified because she was attending the event in a work capacity and Bush was Parliament’s Speaker of the House at the time. His alleged actions took place in public at a busy event organised for the Caribbean Tourism Organization at The Ritz-Carlton resort.
“I was very aware that anyone could have seen it. I was embarrassed and uncomfortable for myself, for him, and for my country. It shouldn’t have happened,” she said.
The woman said she had been talking to a colleague at a cocktail table near the entrance area when Bush walked into the ballroom lobby.
She said she believed he was drunk, and fearing an embarrassing situation, grabbed his hand and drew him into a conversation with her and her colleague.
At this point, she said, Bush was slurring his words and she offered to get him some food.
After a brief interaction, the former premier put his arms around her and, she said, he kissed her on the shoulder. She said he made reference to her husband, who was apparently on the other side of the room and said, “If he saw me doing this he wouldn’t like it” before kissing her again.
The interaction lasted just a couple of minutes, but the woman said her “mood changed” and she was embarrassed and upset.
“These things shouldn’t happen, especially from people in such high ranking positions,” she said.
“He overstepped the line and he knew he overstepped the line,” she added, referencing his comments about her husband.
Later on Thursday, the woman took the stand in person, to face questions about her recorded evidence.
Under questioning from Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, KC, she acknowledged that warm greetings, sometimes including a hug and a kiss, were normal in Caribbean society.
“If they know each other and are welcoming of it, yes,” she said.
She also accepted that Bush was swaying rather than stumbling, and said she was unaware he had any mobility issues until he had first arrived in court using a walker.
Under cross examination, she acknowledged she had initially told officers he didn’t fondle her. She had described his conduct as inappropriate and unfortunate, but that she didn’t believe it had warranted “taking the guy to court”.
She insisted she was “absolutely not mistaken” about what he had said to her about her husband.
The trial continues. Bush has denied all charges.
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