PNP councillor, businessman granted bail

Wednesday, January 28, 2015 | 4:37 PM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica – People’s National Party councillor Rohan Bryan and businessman Ludlow McWhinney were on Wednesday offered bail in the sum of J$600,000, after they appeared before the Morant Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The bail was offered with surety and the men instructed to surrender their travel documents.

Reports are that McWhinney allegedly contacted a relative of a complainant in a case of sexual misconduct involving a minister of religion, in an attempt to influence their decision to proceed with the matter in November last year.

Further allegations are that in January, Bryan tried to influence both the complainant and the relative in an effort to affect the outcome of the case. Reports were made and an investigation launched by the Morant Bay police, after which a file was prepared and submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a ruling.

The DPP ruled on the matter and both men were this morning arrested and charged.

They are scheduled to reappear in court on March 11, 2015.

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PNP councillor, businessman granted bail

Taxi man granted bail after death of mother, child

Rasbert Turner, Star Writer

The driver of the ill-fated car which resulted in the death of a mother and child has been granted bail in the sum of $1.5 million.

He is George Richardson, 62-year-old taxi operator of Hellshire Park, St Catherine.

He is charged with the deaths of Jaharian Durrant, who is in her 30s, and five-year-old Jascinth Haynes, both of Hellshire Heights, St Catherine.

When the case was mentioned in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, attorney-at-Law Andrew Irving made a successful bail application.

He said Richardson was not a flight risk and will return for his trial. Bail was originally set at $2 million but the lawyer successfully asked that it be reduced. It was then reduced to $1.5 million with one, two or three sureties.

The accident occurred about 6 a.m. September 3, along the Hellshire main road in St Catherine.

It is said that Richardson was driving his 1999 Toyota Camry motor car with six passengers along the Hellshire main road. He allegedly overtook a line of traffic and crashed into a utility pole.

Durrant and Haynes were seated behind. They suffered serious injuries and were pronounced dead at hospital.

Richardson was among persons treated at hospital.

He is to reappear in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court on December 9.

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Taxi man granted bail after death of mother, child

Police officers charged with setting teenager on fire, granted bail

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Thursday July 17, 2014, CMC – Six police officers charged with setting a teenager on fire were granted bail when they appeared in court on Wednesday.

The six were charged with misbehaviour in public office by unlawfully and maliciously inflicting harm on Jamerson John,18 in December, 2013 while he was in police custody.

It is alleged that police officers stripped John to his underpants, doused him with methylated spirits and set him alight after he refused to confess to robbing two people and breaking into a house.

John was hospitalised for burns to his torso, leg and genital area.

The six police officers were granted bail amounting to TT$300,000.

They are scheduled to reappear in court on Friday.

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Police officers charged with setting teenager on fire, granted bail

Former head of Women's Bureau granted leave to challenge charges

Former Executive Director of  the Bureau of  Women’s Affairs, Faith Webster, has been granted leave by the Supreme Court, to challenge the decision of  the Public Service Commission (PSC) to bring charges against her.
Justice Bryan Sykes granted leave on Friday following an application by Webster’s attorney, Douglas Leys.
Webster was interdicted three weeks ago by the PSC, following an internal audit which accused her of  failing to perform her duties.
The Office of  the Prime Minister (OPM) recommended that disciplinary action be laid against her following the internal audit.
Thirteen charges have been laid against her by the Commission.She has now applied to the Supreme Court to quash the charges.

Sykes also granted her a stay, blocking the PSC from taking any further disciplinary action against her, until the challenge is heard by the Full Court.

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Former head of Women"s Bureau granted leave to challenge charges

Man on arson charge granted bail

Bjorn Burke, Staff Reporter

A man who set fire to a bed in his house following a domestic dispute was granted bail when he appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Charged with arson is 48-year-old farmer Shawn Tucker of Bloxburgh district, St Andrew.

Allegations are that on June 23 at approximately 6 a.m., Tucker and the complainant, who is his wife, had an argument during which the accused allegedly began removing items of clothing, among other things belonging to the complainant, from their home. It is believed that Tucker then used a cigarette lighter to set fire to a bed inside the one-bedroom board structure, thereby totally destroying the dwelling.

It is believed that when cautioned by officers who were called to the scene, Tucker said: “Offica, mi nuh bun down nuh house, a di woman sister dem bun dung mi house and fling stone after mi.”

Subsequently, Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey granted the accused man bail in the sum of $80,000 with surety, ordering him to return to court on July 30. A fingerprint order was also made.

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Man on arson charge granted bail

Teen on manslaughter charge granted bail

Thursday, January 23, 2014 | 4:36 PM    

ST ANN, Jamaica — A teenager facing manslaughter charges following the death of a 53-year-old woman in St Ann, on January 11, was offered bail when he appeared in the St Ann’s Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Eighteen-year-old Ryan Jackson was offered bail in the sum of $450,000. As a condition of his bail, Jackson will have to report to the Watt Town Police Station three times weekly.

The matter will again be brought before the court on April 16.

Reports are that on Saturday, January 11, Jackson drove away a Mitsubishi Pajero SUV from a car wash where he worked near White River, Ocho Rios, without the consent of the vehicle owner or business operators. He then lost control of the vehicle reportedly slamming into a Nissan van heading in the opposite direction.

Joy Reid, who was a passenger in the van, died from injuries sustained in the crash. Her common-law-husband was hospitalised in serious but stable condition.

It was revealed that Jackson does not have a driver’s licence and that the vehicle he was driving belonged to an employee at a nearby hotel.

The owner had left the vehicle at the facility to be washed and was expected to return Saturday night for pick up.

Renae Dixon

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Teen on manslaughter charge granted bail

Gov"t confirms no pay increase granted to parliamentarians, civil servants

THE Government confirmed in the Senate on Friday that no pay increase had been granted to parliamentarians or civil servants since 2009.

“Consistent with the strategy employed under the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), the government has not granted any wage increase to any public sector worker since April, 2009,” said Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, A J Nicholson.He was responding to a number of questions tabled in June by opposition senator, Robert Montague, suggesting that the government had given itself, its advisors and consultants, pay increases since January 2012.As expected, Senator Nicholson denied that any pay increase had been received by either the Government, or its staff and advisors. However, he confirmed that three tranches in outstanding retroactive payments from a seven per cent pay increase owed to the public sector since 2009/10 were paid between May, 2012 and May 2013. Two more tranches are due in October 2013 and May 2014 to complete the payments.Following the Government’s agreement with public sector trade unions on a two-year contract, 2008/9-2009/10, which included provisions for a 15 per cent pay rise in the first year and a seven per cent increase in the second year, the second year’s increase was not paid following an agreement with the IMF. However, the Government eventually agreed to implement the increase in 2011, and pay the retroactive portions in five tranches, to end in May 2014.“This is the agreement we are still honouring,” Nicholson told the Senate on Friday.In response to other questions raised by Montague, he explained that 24 groups, representing 85 per cent of the public sector, have already signed on to the Heads of Agreement, which include a wage restraint provision for the period 2012/13 to 2015/16.However, he admitted that there are nine groups which have not agreed- five police groups; the Nurses Association of Jamaica; the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association; the Association of Government Medical Consultants; and the Academic Staff Association of the University of Technology. The Government currently has an outstanding wage dispute with the Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association, but this was not included in the list.Senator Nicholson admitted that the wage freeze is applicable to all public sector workers, including those who have not yet signed.Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and Planning Horace Dalley told the House recently that an offer would be made soon to the police groups.

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Gov"t confirms no pay increase granted to parliamentarians, civil servants