Earl Anderson, a mute (dumb & deaf) from Windsor Castle in Portland, caused a stir in Stewart Town, St. Mary a few days ago, as residents of the seaside town thought that he was a Haitian refugee who had fled earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince and arrived on their shores.
Word that Haitian refugees had arrived started spreading on Thursday afternoon (January 28), after residents claimed they saw a small yellow and white paddle boat off the coast in Stewart Town about 12 o’clock with five men and alerted the police. The rumor exploded when residents saw Anderson riding his bicycle from the beach area in Stewart Town, and assumed that he was one of the ‘men on the boat’ because he was wet.
Because he is a mute, Anderson could not communicate with the residents, and they immediately assumed he was Haitian. A resident reportedly offered Anderson a bath, food, clothing, and Anderson reportedly wrote on a piece of paper that he and his family had survived the devastating quake.
Residents called the police who took Anderson to the Port Maria Hospital where, with the help of a translator, they tried to question him. The story later unfolded however, as Anderson’s mother – Mavis Anderson – saw him on TVJ’s Prime Time News report.
47-year-old Icylin Jones was yesterday sentenced to nine months’ hard labour for breaching the Child Care and Protection Act.
It was revealed in court that in March 2009, Jones had received two years’ probation, after her two daughters (who are 13 and 14 years old respectively), were caught out at a dance in Portmore, St. Catherine.
She was told at the time, that she should report to the probation department and abide by its recommendations. However, earlier this month, the children were again held by the police in Portmore. An investigation led to Jones being arrested and charged with negligence.
Before handing down the sentence, the resident magistrate stated that Jones showed no remorse and was disrespectful to the court, and that her breach of a prior probation order validated a custodial sentence.
The resident magistrate also informed the accused that her social-enquiry report indicated that her children were virtually living on the streets, and that Jones put her boyfriend ahead of her kids.
The court also ordered that the children remain in state care, and appear in the Children’s Court on February 24.
43 year old Patrick McMasters, of a Gutters address in St. Catherine, appeared before the Old Harbour Resident Magistrate’s court recently, where he faced charges of driving away a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, and obtaining credit by fraud.
Allegations are that on December 31, 2009 at approximately 8:30 p.m., McMasters went into a churchyard (during the Church’s New Year’s Eve watch night service) at Spring Village, St. Catherine, where a Toyota Hiace minbus was parked with the keys in the ignition. He allegedly drove away the bus, and also reportedly went to a gas station along the Old Harbour Road, asked for $5000 diesel oil, and after being served, he drove away without paying.
At about 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, McMasters was stopped at a police roadblock, and subsequently arrested after he failed to provide the police with the bus’ documents.
McMasters pleaded not guilty to the charges in court, and was remanded into custody for psychiatric evaluation. He is to return to court on February 25, when his case will be mentioned again.
Here’s an interesting listing – Jamaica’s year-to-year murder rate between 1970 and 2009. At left is the year, and to its immediate right is the number of murders recorded for that year.
1970 – 152
1971 – 145
1972 – 170
1973 – 227
1974 – 195
1975 – 266
1976 – 367
1977 – 409
1978 – 381
1979 – 351
1980 – 889
1981 – 490
1982 – 405
1983 – 424
1984 – 484
1985 – unavailable
1986 – 449
1987 – 442
1988 – 414
1989 – 439
1990 – 542
1991 – 561
1992 – 629
1993 – 653
1994 – 690
1995 – 780
1996 – unavailable
1997 – unavailable
1998 – 953
1999 – 849
2000 – 887
2001 – unavailable
2002 – 1045
2003 – 975
2004 – 1471
2005 – 1674
2006 – 1340
2007 – 1574
2008 – 1601
2009 – 1680
Two higglers, 25 year old Dwayne Derby and 35 year old David Hutchinson, appeared before the Spanish Town Criminal Court yesterday, where they faced joint charges of warehouse breaking, larceny and receiving stolen property. They are accused of breaking a warehouse and stealing 900 pairs of shoes valued at J$500,000.
According to the police, on the morning of January 2 this year, the owners of a warehouse in the White Marl industrial complex in Spanish Town opened for business, and discovered that 50 cases containing 900 pairs of shoes valued at J$1/2 million were missing. The matter was reported to the police, and, acting on intelligence, the police went to the Falmouth market in Trelawny on January 5, and recovered 94 pairs of the shoes, seized $16,700 in cash and arrested and charged both men.
Both men pleaded innocent to the charges, and had their bail extended. They are to return to court on March 5 when the matter will be mentioned again.
Conmen posing as bailiffs, have reportedly been calling hire purchase customers of at least one major furniture and appliance chain store here in Jamaica, threatening customers to make their hire purchase payments, or suffer repossession of their goods. It is not fully clear though, whether any of the customers had actually paid over any money to the fake bailiffs or what sums the conmen have been requesting.
Sources indicate that the fact that the unscrupulous callers had the names and numbers of actual customers, everything points to an inside job (a store employee divulging the information).
Since becoming aware of the scam, one chain has reportedly placed radio advisories cautioning the public about the fake bailiffs. They’ve also sought to advise the public that bailiffs and collectors must present proper identification when they visit customers, and should issue a valid receipt to customers whenever cash is collected.
36 year old Nicholas Morgan, of Three East in Portmore, appeared in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court earlier today, where he faced a charge of cruelty to an animal.
The animal in this case, was his neighbor’s four month old cat, who Morgan allegedly kicked and stepped on, and broke its spine. Morgan’s neighbor allegedly that at about 8:45 a.m. on January 2, she saw Morgan kick and step on the cat which she had adopted from the Jamaica Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA) just a month earlier.
She reportedly rushed the cat to a nearby veterinary clinic, and the prognosis was that the cat’s spine was broken. The matter was reported to the Portmore police, who collected a medical certificate from the veterinarian. Upon receipt of the medical certificate, Morgan was arrested and charged.
Morgan admitted to kicking the cat, and tried to explain to the magistrate that he has a six month old baby in the house, and that the cat entered the house and that he kicked it out of his house. He also tried to justify his action, by stating that the Parish Council law forbids the keeping of pets in Portmore.
Morgan pleaded not guilty to the charge, and his $30,000 bail was extended. The case adjourned until February 10 when it will be tried.
13 year old Omar Barrett of Whitfield Town in St. Andrew, became the latest victim of ongoing gang wars in Kingston, as he was viciously shot and killed in the early hours of yesterday morning, while returning from a wake.
According to residents of the area, rival gangs have been squaring off against each other, and a group of gunmen stopped Barrett who was with a group of other boys, returning from the wake. They questioned the youths about where they lived, and when Barrett reportedly told them that he lived on Gem Road, he was shot multiple times. The other youths fled the scene and managed to escape.
According to his mother, Maverlyn Lawrence, he was killed because he “crossed the borderline”, not because he was actually involved in the gang war.
45 year old Ian Brown, a chef of Lissant Road in Kingston Central, appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court recently, where he faced a charge of murder. Brown is accused of murdering his 16 year old son, Ian Brown Jr.
Allegations are that on January 3, Brown’s son went to visit him at his premises at Lissant Road for lunch money. An argument developed, and the elder Brown reportedly used a blunt object to hit his son on his head. His son started vomiting as a result of the injury, and was unconscious for a while. The elder Brown then contacted his daughter for her to come and take her brother to the hospital. He was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital, and died the following day.
A postmortem report showed that a blunt object had been used to smash the younger brown’s head, causing brain injuries. The elder Brown’s attorney however alleges that his client had left his son at home and gone to an ATM to retrieve money, and that when he returned, his son told him that he was not feeling well, and he accompanied him to take a taxi. He also reportedly said that when he returned, the place was in a state, and that he did not know how his son got injured.
Contrary to this however, the investigating officer said the accused, when cautioned, had admitted that he hit his son, but did not know he would have died. The investigating officer also informed the court that Brown’s son had told a nurse at the hospital that his father had hit him in the head.
As a result of the seriousness of the offence, bail was denied for the Elder Brown, and he was remanded in custody and set a return court date of February 25.
Devon Martin appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where he was accused of punching his mother in her mouth, after she had told him not to use her sugar. He was ordered by the court to undergo counseling, along with his mother.
The court heard yesterday, that Martin and his mother got in a tussle when she asked him to stop using out her sugar. Martin said she grabbed him in the front of his shirt and that he simply pushed her hands off, but his mother insisted that he had punched her in the mouth. Both claimed to have eyewitnesses who could confirm their side of the story.
They were both ordered to undergo counseling, while Martin, who is charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, is to return to court on March 22.
