Fifty year old Roger Prince, an Irish attorney who is holidaying in Jamaica and who rose in court recently to defend Archangelo Brooks (28 year old truck driver of Caymanas Gardens in St. Catherine who was charged with receiving stolen property) without having a Jamaican work permit not a certificate from the Legal Council authorising him to practice in Jamaica, was stoutly rejected by St. Catherine Resident Magistrate Simone Maddix, even after he insisted that he was qualified to practice anywhere in the Commonwealth.
The Resident Magistrate reprimanded the stubborn Irish attorney and literally had him kicked out of the Spanish Town Criminal Court. Forcibly demanding that he be heard by the magistrate, Prince was advised to take his comments to the Appeal Court where he will be heard. Prince reportedly said “as a member of the Commonwealth law bar, I am entitled to be heard anywhere“, but admitted also that he did not have a work permit, and apologised for not introducing himself to the court before speaking. He went as far as to cite a number of Commonwealth cases to support his bid to defend Brooks, but Resident Magistrate Maddiz was having none of it and rebutted the many legal citations, and firmly ruled that he should “argue somewhere else. Not here.”
She said, “you do not have a work permit to practice here, nor do you have a certificate from the Council to practice here, so I cannot here you.”
Brooks was denied bail and is remanded in custody until January 5, when the matter will come up again for mention.
Drivers of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses are infamous for the rough-shod manner in which they often drive these buses on the busy streets of Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine. Not surprisingly, according to a report in today’s Jamaica Observer newspaper, JUTC buses have been involved in 852 vehicle accidents since January 1 of this year.
While many independent observers may say that many of these accidents are likely due to excessive speeding and poor driving, the relevant authorities have reportedly indicated that the size of the buses has been a key contributory factor towards the high accident rate.
FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 22 — On Tuesday, December 22, 2009, American Airlines Flight 331, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, overran the runway on landing at Kingston, Jamaica’s Norman Manley International Airport. The flight originated out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, operated into Miami International Airport, and then operated into Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport.
Preliminary reports indicate there are no serious injuries. The aircraft was carrying 148 passengers and a crew of six.
American Airlines is in direct contact with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration and is cooperating fully with appropriate authorities. American Airlines will not speculate as to possible causes of the incident. At this point, no additional details can be confirmed.
Reports indicate that American Airlines Flight #331 from Miami (with 150 passengers aboard), crashed upon landing at the Norman Manley International Airport earlier this evening. Several persons have been confirmed injured, and there are no confirmed reports of fatalities. The plane reportedly broke in two after landing in heavy rain and with poor visibility.
A twenty-two year old man, Anthony Thomas (aka Bebe), of Windsor Heights in St. Ann, was reportedly killed by a mob in his community early yesterday morning.
According to police reports, on Sunday night, Thomas went to premises at Windsor Heights where he attacked a female and demanded money. She refused, and managed to escape and called the police. When the police arrived at the location, Thomas was not seen. At approximately 12:10 a.m., he reportedly returned and tried to enter. An alarm was raised and he was set upon by residents who beat him. He died on the spot.
The St. Ann’s Bay CIB are investigating.
A gunman who had not reportedly seen his father in almost 10 years, was recently reunited with his Dad under the most unusual circumstances. The gunman and two cronies reportedly broke into a house in Clarendon and attempted to rob its owner. The mission was reportedly aborted however, when the gunman realized that the victim was his own father whom he had lost contact with for almost 10 years.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the son has now changed his ways and is now living with and working for his father.
Mourners at a ‘nine night’ celebration at a yard in Whitehouse, St. Catherine, were in for the shock of their lives recently, when heavily armed gunmen held up the mourners and robbed them of all the food that was on hand.
The mourners were not harmed, and the gunmen simply left with the containers of curried goat, chicken and soup. The incident reportedly occured at around 2:30 a.m. in the morning.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that this has been one of many such brazen attacks by a group of gunmen who have been terrorising residents of Whitehouse and surrounding areas in St. Catherine. The police are said to be investigating.
A 23 year old unemployed man, of an Old Harbour Glades address, appeared before the St. Catherine Resident Magistrate’s court recently, where he faced charges of malicious destruction of property. He pleaded guilty as charged, and was remanded in custody for sentencing on January 8, 2010.
Allegations are that the man had a dream that his 22 year old male companion was being unfaithful. He accosted his lover about the dream, but was dissatisfied with the response and became enraged. He reportedly threw stones at the rented house which they shared, causing damage of $132,428 to the doors and windows.
Marcia Gilmore, of a Seaview Gardens address in Kingston, appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where she was ordered to pay $6,000 or serve six months in prison when she used a piece of board to hit another woman because the woman had bad breath and had refused to heed her warning not to talk to her.
The court heard that the complainant was walking in the community of Phase I, Seaview Gardens in Kingston, when she was approached by Gilmore, who used a piece of board to hit the complainant in her face, causing bruises and swelling to her mouth.
Gilmore told the court that she had been suffering for seven years now because of the complainant’s “bad breath”, and that the complainant “loves to talk in people’s faces and I warn her not to talk in my face.“
A 15-year-old male student of the Innswood High School in St. Catherine was hospitalised recently after he was stabbed at school by another student. His attacker is currently being sought by the police.
According to reports, at approximately 9 a.m. on the morning in question, the 15-year-old arrived at school, and a dispute developed between him and the other boy. He was stabbed in his abdomen, and rushed to hospital in serious condition.
