A 16-year-old boy, appeared recently in the Children’s Court, for allegedly beating a 5 year old boy so severely that he was unconscious and had to be hospitalised. The child was reportedly found with his eyes swollen shut, deep bruises to the upper and lower sections of the face, swollen mouth, a sprained neck and four missing teeth, among other injuries. The child cannot speak properly and is unable to chew or swallow due to the severity of his injuries.
Allegations are that there was a misunderstanding between the child and the teen a few days before the incident. It is alleged that the teen eventually attacked the boy in dried up riverbed, a few metres from his home. The teen allegedly beat him and left him there, and he was reported missing that same day by his family, and found early the next morning by the police.
The teen pleaded not guilty to the assault charge, and was remanded in custody. He is due to return to court on January 14
A ritual that was supposed to guarantee financial increase, turned into a curse for a woman in Downtown Kingston last week Friday, as she was left $25,000 poorer as a result.
According to reports, the woman had just withdrawn $5,000 from an NCB ATM along Barry Street, when two men alighted from a vehicle and approached her. One of the men told her that he was a pastor, and that he wanted to bless her money. The woman, believed to be a regular churchgoer, reportedly gave the money to the man for him to pronounce a blessing that was supposed to guarantee financial increase.
Following a brief conversation that involved the second man, the woman reportedly returned to the ATM, and withdrew $20,000 more, which was turned over to the men for blessing.
The blessing soon became a curse however, as the woman watched helplessly as the men jumped into their vehicle and sped off with her money. The reportedly told her story at the nearby City Centre Police Station, but refused to make a formal report.
A high school football coach, who allegedly fondled the genitals of a 14 year old boy three years ago, appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Friday (December 11), where he was offered bail in the sum of $200,000. He was offered bail on condition that he surrender his travel documents and report to the Duhaney Park Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. A stop order has also been placed on him at all ports.
Allegations are that the accused, while employed to a Kingston high school as a coach/student warden, approached the boy’s mother and expressed and interest in having him play for the school’s football team. The boy attended a different school at the time, but the woman allowed her son to attend a residential football camp that was being hosted by the accused. However, on the day in question, it is alleged that the boy was asleep, but awakened by the touch of someone’s hand on his genitals. The boy reportedly protested, but the coach allegedly told him to not say anything and to continue watching television. The coach is then said to have continued fondling the boy’s penis until he ejaculated, and then ordered the boy to fondle his (the coach’s) penis.
The boy did not tell anyone about the incident, and in September of the year he was enrolled in the high school where the accused was the coach. It’s allegedly that the accused then made further advances toward the boy, who told a teacher about the sexual acts that the accused told him that he wanted him to perform with other men. In October 2009, the boy eventually told his mother about the incident, and a report was made at the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, and the accused was arrested and charged with indecent assault.
He is to return to court for trial on January 2, 2010.
41 year old Anthony Calder (otherwise called Eddie) of Argyle Mountain in Bethel Town, Westmoreland, was reportedly stabbed to death by an unnamed uncle earlier this week.
According to police reports, Calder and his uncle had a dispute over a car that was parked in the yard. There was a heated exchange of words, followed by a struggle, and a knife was used to stab Calder. He was taken to a nearby health centre, where he was pronounced dead.
Detectives from Whithorn in Westmoreland are investigating, and the uncle has been arrested.
A 32 year old woman appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court earlier this week, where she faced charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on her 13 year old sister, who she allegedly used a machete and a piece of board to beat. The child reportedly suffered bruises to her legs and hands, and it is further alleged that the accused frequently abuses the complainant both verbally and physically.
The woman, who happens to be her little sister’s guardian told the court she did not use the machete to hit the child, and said the only weapon was the piece of board. She was however found guilty, and is to be sentenced on January 22 – when a social enquiry report that was requested by the court will be presented. The probation office was asked to provide a social enquiry report detailing the background of both the woman and her younger sister.
55 year old Angella Parchment, was reportedly shot dead as she used a toilet at her home on Hog Town Lane in Banbury district, St. Catherine, early yesterday morning.
According to reports, at about 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning, Parchment came out of her house and was using a makeshift bathroom, when family members heard her screaming, followed by explosions. The police were called, and on their arrival, Parchment’s body, with bullet wounds, was seen slumped over a toilet.
18 year old Christina Samuels, was remanded into police custody when she appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where she faced a charge of murder. It is reported that she turned herself in to the police on November 28, after stabbing a man who she said had “disrespected” her.
The Man, 34 year old Jermaine Campbell, was found on King Street in Montego Bay, with a stab wound to the neck. He was taken to the Cornwall Regional hospital where he later died. She will return to court on December 18, when the case will be mentioned.
Residents of some communities in Old Harbour, St. Catherine are reportedly being plagued for the last three months by a sniper of some sort, someone firing metal balls from what is believed to be an air gun or bebe gun at unsuspecting residents. The perpetrator reportedly drives through the communities usually between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in a white Townace minivan, and the occupant fires at persons. At least a dozen residents have been attacked in this way so far, with welts and their swollen skin bearing the evidence.
According to the police, the residents have not made a formal report, thus no official investigation has been done into this matter.
Steve Wright, of a Corporate Area address, who was charged with larceny as a servant after he stole a blackberry phone from his employer, was sentenced (in absentia) in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday to nine months at hard labour.
Wright had previously appeared before the court, and promised to return the instrument. He however failed to deliver it to the complainant, and did not return to court for sentencing. A bench warrant for his arrest was ordered, and he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.
54 year old Don Taylor, an American deportee of Lucky Hill in St. Mary, was convicted last month of housebreaking and possession of housebreaking implements. When he appeared before the Spanish Town Criminal Court for sentencing, in a heavy American accent, Taylor reportedly said “I did it your honour because I wanted to return to prison for medical treatment.”
Taylor, who walks with crutches, has a long list of previous convictions for similar charges, and was sentenced this time around to serve two years for attempting housebreaking, two years for housebreaking and larceny and three months for possession of housebreaking implements. The sentences are to run concurrently, so he will only spend two years in prison.
