Deputy police superintendent freed of corruption charges
DEPUTY Superintendent of Police Denise McKain was Thursday freed of corruption charges when she appeared in the St Mary Parish Court.
Her co-accused, Social Development Parish Manager Jeanette Rose Bryan, was also freed.
The charges were made after Government farmlands, which were to be regularised under the umbrella of the Three Hills Farmers Association and the registration of the group as a provident society, with McKain as president.
It is alleged that McKain told each member of the group of farmers that they had to deposit $50,000.00 towards surveying the lots of land in order to prepare them for ownership. It was further alleged that after payment by one farmer said he received a receipt from McKain titled “Three Hills Providence Society Farmers Association” and not “Three Hills Farmers Association”.
Both women were charged on July 28, 2015 with obtaining money by false pretence and fraudulent conversion following a ruling from the Director of Public Prosecution.
On May 28, 2017 Attorney-at-Law Don Foote made a submission to the parish judge that the charges were wrongly brought and ought to be dismissed, considering the inordinate length of time that elapsed without trial, which he said underscored the prosecution’s inability to mount a case. Following the submission the judge fixed the matter for a trial date on July 20, 2017.
When the matter came up in court, Queen’s Counsel K D Knight said the accused women are upright citizens who went above the call of duty by assisting in the initiative. The defence also maintained that there was no wrongdoing or dishonesty on the part of their clients.
The prosecution subsequently announced that its case did not meet the criminal standard as there was no evidence of false pretence, neither was there any evidence of fraudulent conversion and no evidence was offered.
— Racquel Porter
