A teacher at the Ensom City Primary School in St. Catherine, is without a motor vehicle today, as she was robbed of it at gunpoint on the school compound yesterday.
According to reports, at approximately 7:10 a.m. yesterday morning, while school devotion was under way, the female teacher drove up in her Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV and parked. She was reportedly pounced on by a gunman who demanded the keys to the vehicle. The criminal then sped away, after an accomplice assisted with reopening the school gate.
Reports indicate that the school only has a night watchman, and that its over 1,400 students are in need of daytime security as well, as it is located in a criminal hot spot in Spanish Town.
Things weren’t so pleasant in the quiet rural district of Pleasant Hill in Bog Walk, St. Catherine last night, as gunmen invaded a house in the community and shot five persons. Four of them died, while the fifth person has reportedly been hospitalised in a critical condition.
The dead have been identified as 40-year-old Raymond Williams, Audrey Thomas, 41, Kaneil Parks, 19, and Shereka Clarke, 21 (who was visiting the family). While the police are yet to establish a motive for the quadruple killing, unconfirmed sources indicate that it could have been as a result of a commununity conflict involving money.
39 year old Kevin Graham, of Lucky Valley in St. Catherine, appeared in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court earlier today, where he was sentenced to nine months in prison at hard labour. Graham had been charged with conspiracy and uttering forged documents.
The court heard that in February 2009, Graham went to the Spanish Town courts office and tendered car papers in order to bail and stand surety for someone. It was discovered that the documents were forged, and Graham was arrested and charged.
Despite pleas for leniency from Graham’s lawyer, the judge pointed to the seriousness and prevalence of the offence, and thus sentenced him to nine months in prison.
A 13 year old male student of a primary school in St. Catherine, was reportedly arrested on Monday (May 31), and charged with illegal possession of ammunition.
According to reports, the student arrived at school on Monday morning, and his bag was searched by a teacher – who discovered a 9mm round of ammunition. The Linstead police were called in, and the boy was later charged.
He was granted bail in the sum of $50,000, and released into the custody of his parents. He is scheduled to appear in the St. Catherine Children’s Court soon.
A policeman reportedly arrested his own mother recently, after she had stolen $52,000 from a betting shop in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, and had eluded police investigators for four days.
According to reports, the woman worked as a cashier and operator of the betting shop’s Supreme Venture’s machine. On January 19, her boss went to check the previous day’s sales, but found there was no cash where it should have been. The matter was reported to the police, who went in search of her; but she was not found. Her policeman son reportedly heard about the theft, caught up with her, arrested her, and handed her over to investigators.
In the Spanish Town Criminal Court last week, she pleaded guilty to the charge of ‘larceny as a servant’. The resident magistrate adjourned the matter until March 23, when she will be sentenced.
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.
An early morning domestic dispute yesterday morning in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, has resulted in the death of a man and the critical injuring of his common-law wife.
37 year old Michael White is dead, while his thirty-year-old year old common-law wife, Marcia Barrett, (a teacher at Troja Primary and Junior High School in St. Catherine) is reportedly battling for life in hospital.
According to police reports, at approximately 5 a.m. yesterday morning, the couple was at home when an argument developed after Mr. White accused Miss Barrett of having an affair. It is alleged that Mr. White used a machete chop Miss Barrett all over her body before using the machete to stab himself.
Residents rushed the injured couple to the Linstead Hospital where Mr. White was pronounced dead, and Miss Barrett admitted in critical condition. She was later transferred to the Spanish Town Hospital.
The police are investigating the murder yesterday evening of Elva Mullings, General Manager of Tools Hardware on Spanish Town Road. She was reportedly murdered outside her house at Sandalswood in Bridgeview, Portmore, St. Catherine.
According to police reports, Mullings had just arrived home at approximately 6:30 p.m. and alighted from her car, when she was approached by two gunmen who shot her multiple times. She died on the spot.
Up to late last night, the police were unable to determine a motive for her murder.
Rose-Ann Campbell, a 25 year old primary school of Spanish Town in St. Catherine, appeared in the Spanish Town Criminal Court yesterday, where she pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of three ounces of ganja.
It is alleged that on August 27, Campbell went to the Spanish Town police lock-up with a parcel which she said contained a loaf of bread for her cousin who is a prisoner in the jail there. The parcel was searched, and three ounces of ganja were found, wrapped with plastic paper and embedded in the bread. She was arrested and charged.
She pleaded guilty with explanation, stating that her aunt asked her to take it to her son (Campbell’s cousin) at the lock-up, and that she did not know it contained ganja. The Resident Magistrate extended Campbell’s $40,000 bail bond, and adjourned the matter until to October 20 when Caombell will be sentenced. The Resident Magistrate also requested a social enquiry from the probation officer in order to help determine the degree of sentence to be handed down.
A woman who stripped down to her panties during a fight in the guard room of the Guanaboa Vale police station, St. Catherine, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure and several other charges (assaulting the police, using indecent language and resisting arrest).
The 21 year old woman, who is of a March Pen Road address in Spanish Town, pleaded guilty when she appeared in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The Judge ordered that she pay a fine of J$2,000 each for assaulting the police and resisting arrest, and $800 for indecent language.
On the count of indecent exposure, her $30,000 station bail was extended, and it was adjourned for trial on September 29.
The police testified that on August 8 of this year at about 10 p.m., the woman and a friend had an argument and they came to the police station to make a report. While in the police station, she reportedly became boisterous and began to use indecent language. She was ordered to leave, and went to the station yard where she allegedly started making threats. When the police approached her, she reportedly started to fight them – eventually they managed to overpower her and she was arrested and charged.
