Alleged gang leader denied bail on murder charge
URIEL James, the reputed leader of the deadly Rose Town-based Discipline Gang, was denied bail when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder Friday.
The 41-year-old businessman of Lonair Close in Kingston is alleged to have murdered security guard Errol McGeachy in 1999, with the assistance of members of his gang. McGeachy is alleged to have been murdered for refusing to purchase a gun from James.
On Friday attorney Tom Tavares-Finson renewed his previous application asking for James to be released on bail. The attorney argued that his client should be offered bail as he was earlier granted bail in the Gun Court, where he is facing a charge of illegal possession of a firearm.
But the application was refused and James remanded into police custody until June 22 after the investigating officer told the court that James is being investigated for another murder, committed earlier this year.
In relation to the 1999 murder, it is alleged that on December 8 of that year, James and other members of his gang tied up and beat McGeachy at a yard in Rose Town, before sealing a plastic bag around his head and leaving him under the cellar of a house.
The men then returned for McGeachy, placed him in the trunk of a car, and drove to Kingston Harbour and dumped the body. McGeachy’s body was found the following day floating in the vicinity of Kingston Ice Factory on Port Royal Street.
James was arrested and charged on May 4 this year for McGeachy’s death. According to a postmortem report, McGeachy’s death was caused by multiple blunt force injuries, especially to his chest and head.