A man who in May 1974 threatened a prosecution witness after he gave evidence at a murder trial in the Home Circuit Court, probably didn’t realise that he was not doing himself or anyone else any good. But he gave the presiding judge an opportunity to send a message to those who would threaten witnesses.

Immediately after passing the death sentence upon accused murderer Ransford Thomas, labourer of 31 Curling Street in Denham Town, Justice Vincent Melville (now deceased) sent betting shop clerk Barrington King of 34 Elgin Street in Kingston to prison for 18 months at hard labour after he found him guilty of contempt of court.

The judge told King, who was a defence witness in the murder case, that the sentence he was imposing on him “must be a sentence to let the people in this country know that this sort of thing must not happen”. He further said that if something like that happened again, the police should be vigilant and take strong action, “because a lot of people in this country feel that they…

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Next week: Neville Nembhard is sentenced to death for the vicious slaughter of Det Cpl Linval Campbell.

Sybil E Hibbert is a veteran journalist and retired court reporting specialist. She is also the wife of Retired

ACP Isadore ‘Dick’ Hibbert, rated among the top Jamaican detectives of his time. Send comments to allend@jamaicaobserver.com