Update | Ex-cops and police constable accused of using fake drug case to solicit money from Trelawny woman freed
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Analysis
The article describes police officers accused of using a fake drug case to solicit money and pervert justice, with a subsequent investigation by police oversight bodies. This is a substantive government accountability/corruption-related misconduct case involving public officials in Jamaica.
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A current member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and three former police officers who were accused of using a fake drug-trafficking case to solicit money from a Trelawny woman were today freed after the prosecution said it was unable to mount a viable case.
Former Detective Sergeant James Dawes, ex-Detective Corporal Tamela Anderson, former Detective Constable Shane Givans and Constable Lakarie Barrett were charged last April with facilitating the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation, forgery, uttering forged documents, and perverting the course of justice.
When the matter came up before the Home Circuit Court, the Crown accepted the defence’s submission that the prosecution was unable to mount a viable case based on the evidence.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty before Justice Leighton Pusey, who agreed with the submission.
All four were attached to the police’s Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division.
Except for Barrett, the other accused have since resigned from the force.
According to the allegations, in 2023 the four officers approached the complainant with a document claiming that she was suspected of drug trafficking. She was taken into custody and detained.
Shortly afterward, the complainant’s mother alleged that she received a call from a policeman who stated that her daughter would be released if money was paid.
The complainant was later released without being charged.
It is alleged that the document presented to the woman regarding the drug-trafficking case was fake.
A subsequent complaint was made to the police’s Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau, which launched an investigation.
Investigators reportedly discovered that the four accused had prepared the forged document used in connection with the woman’s release from custody.
Attorneys-at-law Chadwick Berry, Christopher Townsend and D’Ondre Buchanan represented the defendants.
- Tanesha Mundle
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