Million-dollar robbery suspect freed
A man, who was detained by the police as a suspect in a recent million-dollar robbery in downtown Kingston, has been released by the police after spending a little over two weeks in custody.
Attorney Paul Gentles, who represented the suspect, informed Resident Magistrate Simone Wolfe-Reece Tuesday — in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court — that his client was released on Monday after he was not pointed out during the identification parade.
Resident Magistrate Vaughn Smith had instructed the police last Friday, when Gentles started his application in court, to have the identification parade on Monday after the lawyer complained that two identification parades had fallen through because the police and the witness did not turn up.
The magistrate had warned then that the court would have no choice but to sign the court order if the parade was not held.
But, yesterday, when Gentles appeared in court he further complained that the police had knowingly kept his client in custody, despite being earlier informed by the witness that she could not positively identify the person who robbed her.
“The witness, in her own words, said, ‘I just can’t identify the man. Honestly, the man took me suddenly and me did tell the police’,” Gentles recalled.
“My client was taken out of his bed and spent 17 days in custody even though the police knew that the witness could not identify him,” he said.
“He can never recover from the harsh reality of being in custody,” Gentles told the court.
The lawyer said that it was unreasonable for the police to have kept his client in custody for 17 days knowing that their case had certain flaws.
“When the shoe is on the other foot, not even a day in custody,” he said.
Gentles said that the police need to stop arresting people before conducting their investigations, as it was unfair to have people in custody while trying to unearth evidence to charge them.
The man in question was arrested on suspicion of robbery on December 11, following allegations that he stole $1.2 million from a courier while she was on her way to lodge the money for her Chinese employee.
The money was not recovered.
— Tanesha Mundle
