By Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer

One man is dead, another hospitalised and a third in police custody after they were mobbed by citizens in Cascade, Hanover, yesterday.

Up to press time yesterday evening police were unable to ascertain the identity of the dead man. Detective Inspector David Ebanks, crime chief for Hanover, said the names of the other two could not be released as yet as investigations were at a critical stage and charges were pending.

The Lucea police say that at about midnight on Sunday, six men travelling in a Toyota Corolla went to Cascade where they were alleged to have been seen damaging and stealing a number of cars.

Realising that they were spotted, it is said that the driver drove off leaving the other men behind. Residents reportedly chased them but they managed to escape in bushes.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. yesterday the residents spotted two men they claim were the suspects. The men were beaten, chopped and then handed over to the Lucea police. The search for the other men continued through the day and at about 1 p.m. a third man who was said to have been seen in bushes was accosted by two residents. The man is said to have used a knife to inflict wounds all over the residents' bodies.

An alarm was raised and several other residents came to the residents' assistance. The man was chopped to death, while the residents were treated at the Noel Holmes Hospital. Police say they have recovered several items which the men were allegedly using in the process of stealing the car.