Former MP and sister stabbed by intruder

FORMER TOBAGO West MP and NAR Government Minister Pamela Nicholson, and her sister Pat, a former secondary school teacher, were resting comfortably at the Scarborough Hospital yesterday recovering from emergency surgery after they were stabbed by an intruder at their home on Tuesday night. An armed police officer stood guard in the Surgical Ward yesterday with strict orders not to admit visitors. “We want them to rest. They are not resting at all, and we want them to rest. The police are there and you cannot see them,” the Ward Supervisor told Newsday.

The police were summoned to the ward early yesterday after scores of visitors converged on the hospital to see the injured sisters. The incident occurred at their Mt Pleasant home around 8.15 pm. According to a relative, Pat was  speaking on the telephone with her back to the door, when she felt a hand on her head pushing her down. She spun around startled and was confronted by a tall, dark man who began stabbing her with what appeared to be a short cutlass or big knife. On hearing the commotion, Pam, who was on the phone in another room, rushed out to investigate. When she tried to intervene, she fell, and the intruder attacked her dealing her several stabs.

In the meantime, Pat escaped and ran out into the street screaming for help. A neighbour responded, but by that time the intruder jumped into a car which was parked beneath a tamarind tree near the Nicholsons’ home, and fled the scene. The sisters were rushed to hospital bleeding profusely. Doctors were concerned about the excessive bleeding and emergency surgery was performed. A relative reported that the victims were stabbed about the body, excluding  the face and hands. They were conscious and coherent and chatted freely with other relatives about the shocking incident. Robbery has not been ruled out as a motive. Old Grange Police are continuing investigations. Ms Nicholson first became a Member of Parliament in 1986 when the NAR came to power and she was elected as a representative for Tobago West.

In 1995 when the NAR and the UNC formed a coalition government she was a Member of Cabinet as Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs. In 1997 she resigned from the NAR following differences between the UNC and the NAR. In 1999 she did not contest elections but supported the People’s Empowerment Party in the Tobago House of Assembly elections.