Phillips. Scotland Yard to assist with training for the unit

GOVERNMENT yesterday announced plans for the establishment of a special police unit to focus on anti-kidnapping.

Dr Peter Phillips, the security minister, told parliament that the government has sought and received commitment from Scotland Yard to assist with specialised training for the unit.
Phillips did not say when the unit would be established.
The security minister said police investigations, so far, indicated that recent incidents of kidnapping do not reflect a pattern. He said that except for one case, the incidents of abduction were drug-related.

Phillips' announcement of the special unit comes just a week after the safe return of kidnapped social worker Christine English, and less than two weeks after the abduction and murder of Lolette Salmon, the 38 year-old woman who was abducted near her home in Burnt Savannah, Westmoreland, shortly after her return to the island from a vacation in Miami, USA. Her body was found burnt in her Toyota Rav 4 motor car.

At the same time, the security minister announced a $5-million reward, through the Crime Stop Programme, for information leading to the arrest and charge of the persons responsible for last week's kidnapping of Christine English.

English was released safely last Thursday night, three days after she was abducted outside her home in Gordon Town, St Andrew, and a $6-million ransom demanded for her release. The ransom was later dropped to $2 million.

The security ministry, Phillips said, intended to leave no stone unturned in the matter "because we are determined not to go the way of other regional territories faced with this problem of kidnapping".

English was kidnapped when armed men ambushed her and her husband, building contractor Bruce English, as they drove in to their yard in Gordon Town. Indications are that the ransom was paid prior to English's release, after the police announced that they were complying with the wishes of the family by withdrawing from the case and allowing them to conduct their own negotiations.

The kidnapping of Christine English was said to be linked to the notorious Joel Andem gang, known for its involvement in extortion rackets in sections of Kingston - the Jamaican capital. But the police said they had no intelligence that the gang was involved in her abduction.

The Andem gang was, however, blamed for the 2000 kidnapping of gas station operator Sylvia Edwards. She was murdered and buried in a shallow grave after her family failed to pay a $200,000 ransom.

In the meantime, the security minister announced that Scotland Yard would provide support for the proposed National Investigative Authority (NIA) announced by Prime Minister P J Patterson last month.

He said that the NIA was being created to respond to frequently expressed concerns about the administration of the justice system, and to help improve the quality and integrity of investigations which are often criticised in the face of mounting corruption.turn header

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