The daughter is at the Psychiatric Hospital and the parents accused of confining her are on bail today after they appeared in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Antonio Marcus Fitzpatrick, a 49-year-old watchman and his 47-year-old wife Stacy, both of Brereton, No. 1, St Philip, did not plead to the charge that they wrongfully confined their 19-year-old daughter Antonia Fitzpatrick between June 1, 2017, and February 7, this year.
Prosecutor Sergeant Neville Reid did not object to the parents being released and Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant granted the mother and father each $10 000 bail with a surety.
The accused, who were represented by attorney Carol-Ann Best, will appear in the District “C” St Matthias Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Police are alleging they got a tip which led them to the accused parents’ house. The girl, said a police public relations statement, was discovered in a malnourished state and with unkempt hair, locked in a room.
She was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by ambulance for medical attention and is now at the Psychiatric Hospital undergoing observation.
Stacy, who appeared in District “A” Magistrates’ Court yesterday with her husband Antonio, said that she went to look for her daughter at the Psychiatric Hospital after the hearing but was told her daughter was not allowed any visitors.
“While we were at the police station in Oistins we were told that she was diagnosed as schizophrenic but my daughter never had a mental problem.
“As a mother you would want to know what is going on with your child and I find it very disturbing that I was not allowed to see her,” she said. (HLE/SB)
