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I never forgot the last time that I saw Imran Khan—my former St Mary’s College classmate, not the cricketer. We were on the second floor of the school one morning, and I heard a buzz in the corridor.
I looked up to see Imran walking towards me with a blood-stained baton.
“What happened?!” I asked.
“I just couldn’t take any more,” he said.
And Imran put the baton in his locker, closed it and walked towards his classroom.
I walked in the direction that Imran came from to find out what happened. Everywhere, boys looked stunned. Imran, they said, had just cracked open Stuart Young’s head.
Thirty-three years later, that memory has not dimmed.
Three and a half years after that incident, I joined the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, and I’ve worked as a journalist ever since—in a career that took me from the Guardian to the Trinidad Express to Wired868, with several overseas jobs in between.
I have rarely written first-person columns in my three decades in this profession. And I have never mentioned this incident publicly, but it touched me very deeply.
For years, as Young’s star rose in local politics, I wondered about that event—and what it might say about the man. Mostly, I wondered if the news of that violent affair would ever resurface.
That the Imran Khan episode emerged within hours of Young’s coronation as prime minister had me shaking my head. It was about to become political theatre, I thought. I definitely wanted nothing to do with that.
Photo: Office of the Parliament 2024.
However, a story in today’s Trinidad Express, headlined The baton attack on teen Stuart, changed my mind. And, against the firm, well-meaning advice of a close friend, I now feel compelled to share my own recollection of the interaction between the two boys at the time.
It is hard for me to abide by misinformation. And the claim that Young “never had any interaction with the boy before the unprovoked attack” is quite simply untrue.
I do not intend to make any moral judgment on either party, but I do want to address that excerpt.
I started form one at St Mary’s College as a tiny, starry-eyed 11-year-old from Arima—excited at the opportunity to move from the modest D’Abadie Government Primary School to such a prestigious institution.
I do not know Khan’s origin story, but I assume he came from similarly modest means. He was, at the time, a short, fat, friendly, soft-spoken boy of East Indian descent.
Almost from the moment my form one group walked through the door at Frederick Street, we were greeted with bullying by older boys, who set on us like wolves: taps, kicks, insults, etc.
I think our attackers were mostly second-form students, and I assumed that this was the treatment they received themselves. It was a rough initiation.
Photo: Allan V Crane/ Wired868.
In most cases, the bullying petered off by the end of the first term. We learnt how to defend ourselves by forming groups, standing up for ourselves, and getting pretty good at insults ourselves. Or maybe most of the older boys just found something better to do with their time.
In third form, when a tall, tough boy from a higher form kicked one of our classmates after school and took his football, we retaliated in kind. There were more than a half dozen, I think; I remember D’urville Rogers being our best fighter, and Marc Gaspard not being too shabby.
Picture a giant grappling with an army of dwarves and you’d pretty much have the correct visual image. There were boys hanging onto his leg, jumping onto his back, and attacking from all sides.
It was a spectacular conquest, and word of it spread. None of the older boys ever troubled us (the boys involved from my form) after that.
But Imran never had such a triumph. And, in his case, Young appeared to have never let up: from form one straight to five.
(via Timedot.)
To say that Young “never had any interaction” with Imran is an insult to an entire form of witnesses.
Boys like Imran and myself earned the right to attend St Mary’s College through exceptional marks at the then Common Entrance Examination, which marked us out as some of the best students in the country. But at the Frederick Street institution we met another class of boys, whose status was determined by something else entirely.
We would watch in amazement as some boys had butlers turn up at lunchtime in black and white uniforms to drop off their hot meals. Others had employees from their family-owned companies deliver their lunches.
I remember one boy who bragged about the number of sneakers he owned—and proved it by wearing a different one each day for at least two weeks.
They were not like us. But we made lasting friends and connections with some boys from different social circles and ethnicities—that’s what school is about.
Carmona’s son, Christian, was a student there at the time.
Photo: Wired868.
I remember young Bernard Yetming, who was a cool, funny, scrawny little fellah. And there was Ian Hamel-Smith who was half-crazy in our opinion—the sort who would skateboard down Lady Chancellor on a dare.
Those boys were liked and accepted by all. But there were always reminders that some students were not like the others.
In fourth form, we were playing football in the ‘big yard’ when the bell went to signal the end of lunch. One boy, the second youngest from a famous school football family, remained in the play area juggling a football.
A teacher (I believe it was form one dean, Mr Lee John) went out and ordered him to put away the ball and go to class. And, as cool as you like, the kid took the ball and banged it against the teacher with great force.
And he continued playing as if nothing happened.
We were told afterwards that the boy got a brief suspension but I don’t remember the duration.
The rules did not apply to some students in the same way that it did to others.
And, against that backdrop, Imran’s complaints about being bullied by Young failed to prompt any meaningful corrective action over the years—even though he was not short of witnesses. I am one such witness.
Then, in his fifth year at CIC, to quote Imran: “I just couldn’t take any more…”
I make no moral judgment on the prime minister. I do not know why he behaved the way he did in school. I do not know his journey since and whether or not it has significantly altered his temperament.
But I do remember Imran. He was funny and friendly. He was beloved by everyone in the form.
I remember him beating his desk and beat-boxing with his good friend at the time, Colin Santana, as they basically butchered popular tunes by turning them into parody (Ice Ice Baby became Rice Rice and Curry), or created their own silly songs.
I always wondered what happened to him. Based on the recent social media posts, Imran moved to Canada and made a new life for himself—I’m really happy to hear that.
Young is a repeat MP; he has handled several high-profile ministries without major incident, and he is our eighth prime minister. I do not know his journey from St Mary’s College to the Red House.
Maybe the Imran incident is irrelevant in the wider scheme of things.
However, it did happen—and not in the way that today’s Express article claimed.
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
For those who might have questions after the homily of Father Anthony De Verteuil (former St Mary’s College principal) this weekend, let me try to help a bit.
I was a 15 year old student so certain bits of information would have been inaccessible to me at the time.
However, Imran Khan told me unequivocally that the same principal de Verteuil told his father, in his presence, that he was expelled from the school.
This is in line with what two St Mary’s College teachers told me up until this weekend.
So how could De Verteuil say differently on a pulpit?
Well, apparently the ministry of education was never informed of any “expulsion” by CIC. Why? I can only speculate. But one possible reason is that CIC would have had to justify the expulsion, which would potentially mean raising all aspects of the case before the ministry—including why Imran felt the need to lash out.
For those familiar with these denominational schools, it is not unusual that they do not inform the ministry of all their doings.
So, de Verteuil never formally expelled Imran Khan from St Mary’s College. But, according to Imran, he effectively did so by telling his father that he was expelled.
And note that in de Verteuil’s media interview, 33 years ago, he claimed that the boy was not to return until he had a psychological evaluation of some sort done. But he did not tell the media then that: Imran is expected back in school.
Can you confirm that Khan was suspended or expelled please.
Imran Khan confirmed to me that Principal Anthony De Verteuil told his father, in his presence, that he was expelled. Principal De Verteuil apparently did not tell the Ministry that the boy was expelled. So perhaps he is using that technicality to say he didn’t expel the boy. But Imran said he was expelled and two teachers at the time confirmed that. And De Verteuil himself, in interviews with the media at the time, said he told the boy not to come back without a psychological certificate of some kind.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s, St. Mary’s College was the cream of the crop. And we knew it. Everything else is water under the bridge. Good luck Prime Minister Young. Yours truly, Esah Ali, Esq.
Memories, good ones and not so good ones at CIC……..I clearly remember this fight in CIC. Young used to tease Khan endlessly………I always used to wonder why Imran did not hit him some hurry slap in his mouth or hit him an American styled NFL tackle in the school yard, or punch him in his head MMA style, all matters would have stopped.
Imran was a very strong person, he was big, remember he used to be the Anchorman in the Tug of War for his class & the Form he was in, so he could have beaten Young to a pulp, no need for a baton.
The older boys used to try and intimidate me in school, but I learned from them to curse at them, like a true fisherman……….I still have that cuss bud mentality……lol……
Also remember certain football brothers in CIC, they threw firebombs / Molotov cocktails at a dean’s house, and his house almost burnt to the ground. (Curtains caught fire)
The principal at the time, DV, just suspended them for about a week……….different horses for different courses as you say…………….Fair skinned for fair skinned……….when you have folks in high places, you use them to protect you, and you use the for leverage to get what you want.
There is a saying that goes, “The rich can buy justice and get away with it” and this is exactly what happened in the case with the Khan vs Young fight………….small $$$$ vs big $$$$$……..by extension Muslim vs Catholic………
As Young assumed public office in late 2014 thereabouts, I used to wonder when this incident will surface. I am quite surprised that it has taken close to 10 years to surface.
I still remember, students in Form 1 & Form 2, showing me where the fight occurred (Opposite the Dean of Form 1 Office by the stairs) and seeing the blood on the wall. Young’s smaller brother was there and witnessed the entire fight.
Remember in CIC Young and other older Students used to intimidate me, I told my uncle at the time what was happening, he gave me the best advice, take front first before they take you, go on the offense…….so with that in mind, I used to curse Young in the corridors, show him the middle finger, etc………..
This incident and the outcomes (including political spin some are putting on it) say much about our society and our lack of maturity in handling issues of this nature. Bullying is certainly not a phenomenon of recent vintage. And while we are a lot more aware of it and its damaging effects very little is being done or will be done to put mechanisms in place to deter bullying. What we can be very certain of is that politicians (on both sides who have the power to address this issue in a most forceful way as members of parliament) sadly some will choose to only see it as an opportunity to score cheap political points.
My dad attended St Mary’s decades ago on a scholarship (otherwise he could not have afforded to go), and I’ve heard stories about stern Catholic priests hitting boys (giving them “calpet”) to discipline them, or even throwing missiles at them in the middle of a class for misbehaviour……Maybe things were just more violent back then?
The comments here about snooty classism in CIC, and different rules for the rich folks, are indeed jarring and disgusting….
…However, if someone in public office today was “outed” as an adult for being a bully as a child, I think instead of being embarrassed by it, or avoiding the issue, he/she should own it, apologise, and make amends. I would respect them more for that.
Memories you have awoken. I sat right in front of Iman and Santana so I am fully aware of their antics which I thoroughly enjoyed. There is a Miss Teelucksingh song which cannot be repeated here. As the quote from the Dickens classic, A Tale of Two Cities goes:” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
Some commentators seem to be of the belief that what you’ve described in those years at the school is some sort of rite of passage to be endured and that the matter is best left in the past. But these people have ignored your own pain that, to my mind, seeps through the words of this account. I read this and it’s so well-written that it’s almost as if I could see you struggle for the last 33 years to try to understand what happened to you and your fellow schoolmates.
In your words I can see you hope to see Imran to make sure he is alright. I hope he is. And I hope you see him. You did very well in standing up for him like this. Make no mistake, you are standing up for him and all those who have been or are being bullied. Thank you.
Unfortunately, the effects of bullying in schools and the toll it takes on the psyche are topics that we as a society have started to consider only relatively recently. The recent suicide of the youngster in high school last year is of particular importance and must not be taken lightly.
why would you insist on sending your child to an institution you know has bullying and bulling from the top down? make it make sense. Stockholm syndrome or just plain blind dotishness to boast my son went there? make it make sense
No one really knows of a school’s internal issues until they start attending same. Keep in mind this is 33 odd years ago. No one is giving up the right to attend a prestige school just like that. Think before you make foolish comments like this
Thank you Mr. Lisana Liburd for your potent article, sharing your experience. Thank you indeed!
Prime Minister the Honorable Stuart Young, you have been placed in leadership for such a time as this. 8th Prime Minister, new beginnings Sir, you cannot do like your predecessors, you need to stand for righteousness and justice. What better way to start than to deal with your own affairs in your household, then the Parliament!
You need to compensate Mr. Khan for your wrong doing, for mercilessly bullying him for 5 years to the point of making him become violent towards you. $1 million dollars compensation. At least. For his suffering. And not being able to sit his exams. For the lies slander disrespect suffering he endured and the years of mental torture, then and to this day!
That school??? Prestigious halls of corruption, bullies and victims! Unbelievable the suffering of young men from there and such places!
Justice needs to be done for Akiel. See to it.
Thirdly, everything happens for a reason and is not by accident or chance! That day in Parliament when your Mike was unmuted and the public heard about what takes place inside the Parliament, no longer must advantage be taken of young men and women boys and girls!
You have been given a chance to correct your wrongs, that of your family and colleagues. Do not take it lightly.
The word of God.
The Zammy comment while in our hallowed Parliament halls makes more and more sense as the days goes by and more comes out
For you to conflate an incident from almost 33 years ago and picong of recent, shows clearly where you thought space is at. We live and we learn, everyday we are alive we have the opportunity to change. We have all made mistakes as children that we have learned from. Some were bullies and some were bullied, but growth and maturity sets in at some point. The fact that they want to politicize some childhood mistakes is sickening, it was a traumatic experience for both, the PM did not get away unscathed, both would have trauma.
Who am I to believe?
ok don’t you think its just about those boys in a small boys school, and conflict and fighting happens all the time; my father went CIC, and He was a very strong country boy, so it would definitely have had some fighting; my son went to St Anthony’s college and when the teachers have to leave them unsupervised, they would tell them stay home to avoid fights; point is some boys in their teen age years are rough, and it may be perceived as bullying. so you can not blame someone for something that happened in his school years; because he would have grown up and got more mature; some boys take a lot of time to mature. I think it is petty to bring up something that happened in school years. you may not even know what really happened, your percept could be skewed. I think the people who you are accusing would know what they did or did not do.
So what about the young man who committed suicide recently based on the constant stress of provoking? You sound so dumb. I hope your son is not as bad off as you at least I hope smh
Excellent response. Totally agree.
I empathize with the parents of the boy who committed suicide. However, you have to be involved in your child’s life and as a parent, for my child’s mental health and well being, he would have been removed from the school after the 3rd complaint. So as parent they need to ask themselves if they did everything possible to safeguard their son. You cannot depend on the school to do your job, your child, regardless, must come first.
The effects of this has affected and possibly negative altered the life of one individual…the individual was forced out of school without being allowed to complete exams…
Yes…it becomes a lifetime memory.
Bullying is real. For whatever combination of social dynamics, it is a reality for many, especially in male single sex secondary schools.
Sadly, I, too, have far too many of these stories. And I want to caution the casual reader about Saint’s life…
You see, for many of us kids from the wrong side of the Lady Young Road, or the wrong side of the Bus Route…or the wrong side of the Lighthouse…the Blue and White stripes gave us super powers.
We were not just the brightest kids in our Common Entrance cohort — we were the lucky ones to have parents who had the extra sense to put down CIC as our first choice.
But, from the first day at #75 Frederick Street (from me it was SEP 6, 1982) we saw what the divide between the Haves and the Have Nots meant. I often tell people that I never knew I was poor till I went Saints.
Privilege seeps through those sesquicentennial halls…the Terrazo in the Centennial Hall should be earmarked an architectural treasure. The Art Deco nods of the main admin block are subtle but distinctive reminders that We Are Other.
But then we get to find out about the “Second Son” Syndrome of the many families that have and hold various claims to owning and running this town. Those little basterds[sic] were pure evil. I had many many mannnny encounters with so many of them. But from Day ONE I told myself I would prefer to die than be bullied again.
So I fought over EVERYTHING. Fought till I got very good at it (massive shout out to G. Anthony Joseph who taught a bunch of us lads the secret arts of street fighting between Forms 1 and 2. I was an avaricious student of violence as defensive art.) And fought till I myself became the bully. Yeah. I pre-bullied anybody that looked at me funny or, as in the case of Dopson; pushed me out the line to buy pies from Pie Guy. He swung at me, missed. I swung back, and smashed his face in. I was sent to the Form 4 Dean, Fr Mendes, who attempted to adjudicate on behalf of Dopson based only on the fact that: “but your face is unmarked—look at what you did to this boy! What did you hit him with?? Brass knuckles??”
When I showed Fr where my hand was bruised and swollen he still did not believe me.
And, that day, were it not for MY support system of eyewitnesses: Garras, Ever-Ready Everard Caton, Puggy and some of the other Pie Guy pie addicts and regulars, I would have been a victim of “The Saint’s Code”.
Fr Mendes and I would become great friends after that. And I coached the school’s basketball team for 12 years…but you see that class line that Lasana talked about there? Yeah, that is as real as it gets.
One of these days I will talk about the day we had to assemble The Caledonians to roll for Remis and McSween and John and dem Five R boys who went after Everard and we had to…oh…look…goin through a tunnel…loosing signal…I’ll call you back….
Aye!! Shout out to the Pie Man!! Waaaay memories there man. Those pies…whoa!
What you describe may well be the Concordat in action. A consequence of institutionally supported privilege – not just bullying and garden variety racism . Khan appears to have been its victim and Stuart its agent.
I am appalled at the ‘culture’ that existed in the prestige schools then. I went to a Government Secondary school in the sixties and bullying never existed. We have a group chat with our classmates and I raised the topic following the suicide incident in Princes Town recently. My classmates agreed with me. We did have our pranks on each other. I think the breakdown in society came from . our oil boom.
I believe people can change and I definitely think that we are not who we were in high school. Mistakes would have been made. Should the Prime Minister be judged for his actions then? No. But would I judge him now for his handling of this? Most definitely. I would truly be impressed if the leadership of this country was humble and self aware enough to take ownership of his actions that occurred back then and witnessed by so many coming forward to speak up for Imran Khan, apologize and/or make amends or show some remorse for his wrongdoings and commit to doing and being better for the nation. For me, that is how you make it right with class. That’s how you set an example for the younger generations. That is true leadership. Hopefully, he does not waste the opportunity.
Mr. LIBURD, AS SOMEONE WHO HAS SERVED AS AN EDUCATOR IN DIFFERENT COLLEGES FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, I CAN TELL YOU THAT WHAT YOU HAVE DESCRIBED, DURING YOUR TENURE AS A STUDENT AT CIC, IS NOT UNIQUE. I DO NOT CONDONE IT., HOWEVER. IT IS WHAT IS DESCRIBED AS INITIATION MORE SEVERE IN BOY SCHOOLS THAN GIRL SCHOOLS. IN ALL SCHOOLS THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE THE MORE PRIVILEGED STUDENTS WHO SEEK TO LORD IT OVER THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE SAME SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND. HOWEVER, WHAT I HAVE WITNESSED, AS BOTH TEACHER & STUDENT, IS THE FORMATION OF FRIENDSHIPS & RESPECT BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT STRATA, SOMETIMES FOSTERED BY DISCERNING TEACHERS OR BY THE STUDENT LEARNING TO WITHSTAND THE BULLYING BY GAINING THE RESPECT & ADMIRATION OF HIS/HER TORMENTORS WITHOUT RESORTING TO VIOLENCE WITH A BATON. IN MY TIME, VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS WAS MINIMAL BUT NOT AS PREVALENT AS IT IS TODAY OR EVEN IN YOUR TIME
Burd you know I respect your view and your account and I most certainly I can swear to the journalistic integrity of Lasana Liburd…
While my brother an Angus were friends from form 2, Stuart and I had our differences … but today and for for the last two decades I have seen growth and a level of dedication that has endeared me to PM Young… today he is my PM and my friend…
You and I are also friends and I’m sure if you recall some of my indiscretions then, as well intentioned as they tended to be… I may not have had the opportunity to serve the 10 years I did… as boys at CIC WE teased, insulted, fought, harassed other boys for 25 cents etc … im not convinced that class, race or any of those dynamics any more than just being boys led to some of the foolishness we did… But im confident that none of that not even this unforgettable CIC/Imran and Young issue defines any of us today… The Honourable PM Stuart Richard Young has long earned his opportunity and has my unwavering support… Remain blessed Burd continue to tell your truth and to do all you do to make a difference…
I’m not in the position that you are in to speak about the prime minister’s character. I respect you, Paul, and I would not contradict you. So you can be sure I spoke only to address a report that I felt unfair to Imran and what he went through. I wish the PM the best and hope he serves our country well.
Well done Lasana. As a former CIC student myself, classism was prevalent – but such is life, filled with many characters, many of whom lack character.
We press on.
Big respect to you for setting the story straight and repping Khan. We trust that part of the PMs/government agenda (even in the smallest part), includes the fair treatment of people , with inherent value for all. Especially in our schools where young people should be afforded equal opportunity to simply find their way – regardless of class or background.
The PMs memory should now be jarred, as a reminder that he (like the rest of us) – strayed at one point or the other. As long as there is life, there is an opportunity to do right ….do better.
I couldn’t agree more. And great to hear from you, Gerard. I hope you’re doing well bro.
Likewise man. Wish you all the best. FORWARD.
The role of the media and ALL Journalists is reporting TRUTH. Thank you Lasana Libert.
I attended Hillview College in the 1960’s and such reports were unheard of. We had a Dean of Discipline Mr Christopher Pooran Maharaj who loved to deal with BULLIES. CIC, in its quest to protect the many students from wealthy and influential families FAILED TO PUT SYSTEMS IN PLACE !
Paul,do you believe some youthful behaviors manifest themselves in maturity?🤥
I imagine it is a psychological flaw on my part but i always feel this surge of psychological adrenal joy when a bully gets his comeuppance.
Thank you for this. There are MANY THINGS TO TALK about this, beyond the political drama. I will share and comment.