The second ex-member of the St Catherine-based Klansman gang-turned-State witness yesterday described the years since he started working with the police to bring down the gang as “hard”.

“Over the few years I’ve been through a lot, keeping myself safe. I’ve been traumatised,” said the witness, whose riveting testimony over the past two weeks has detailed the operations of the deadly outfit.

Thirty-two men and a woman accused of being members of the gang on are on trial in the Supreme Court.

Responding to questions posed by attorney Lloyd McFarlane, who represents alleged gang leader Andre “Blackman” Bryan, about supposedly conflicting details in his various statements to the police as against his testimony before the court, the witness said, “I have been stressed; a lot has been going on. I’ve been through a lot.”

McFarlane, in cross-examining the witness yesterday, questioned his recollection of a sum of money he told the police in his statement that Bryan had sent him to collect versus the amount he had told the court. The witness had told the police the sum $120,000; however, under oath while testifying in court, he said it was $150,000.

McFarlane also grilled him over whether he had lied in the statement about how much the gang member who handed the money to him had told him he had used from it and the amount he said Bryan had told him to keep for himself.

When the witness replied, “I can’t recall,” McFarlane said “Of course not, because the figures are all wrong.”

When the witness, further responding to the attorney’s questions said, “I mixed up the figures,” McFarlane countered with, “The figures? Or you mixed up the lie?”

“Why didn’t you tell the court honestly, I can’t remember how much I got instead of confidently telling this court figures you can’t back up?” the attorney demanded.

“I didn’t tell any lies,” the witness repeated.

In attempting to discredit the witnesses’ testimony of an incident in which he had said Bryan ordered the death of a Lauriston, St Catherine, man known as Outlaw, McFarlane questioned how it was that although the witness had claimed Bryan didn’t want him to drive his car for that killing it had still been one of the three vehicles at and around the scene at the time of the incident.

“Blackman wasn’t going to want me to drive my car because I live in Lauriston and he didn’t want it [murder to be linked back] to his side of the gang,” the witness said.

McFarlane was however at pains to point out that despite his insistence on not being visible in the area he had still been the one to drive back to the scene and look at the body of the murdered man.

“I pass the scene and told him the man is dead… he like when we look at the victim and if we get a chance he would like us to send his photo, that’s the type of person he is,” the witness said.

McFarlane further took him to task over his utterances in court that he had objected to Outlaw being killed, pointing out that this objection had not prevented him from being involved in the planning and being on the scene of the murder.

“I was just listening and following instructions. It’s either me or him [Outlaw]…we were all taking instructions from Blackman…,” the witness told the court.

In the meantime, the witness said that Bryan had been confident that the police would not be able to build a case against him, even though he had been arrested.

He made the claim after McFarlane questioned his boldness in going to the police with information on his client, given that he had said he was afraid to approach the cops in the first place.

“You are a top-tier member in the gang?” McFarlane asked.

“Yes sir,” the witness responded.

“You thought your name would be called. You were not afraid that they would arrest you next?” McFarlane asked further.

“No, Sir… Blackman wouldn’t call my name, Sir… my name wasn’t going to be called by Blackman. Blackman said they have no case against him because the person who was to build the case against him cannot identify him, Sir, so I am sure, hundred per cent no one’s name would be called by Blackman,” the witness asserted.

Said McFarlane, “You told us Andre Byran told you they had no case against him, so you decided to make up a case against him?”

“No, Sir, I went to the police from 2017,” the witness retorted.

Earlier in his testimony the witness, who said he was forced to join the gang in 2016, had told the court that his first visit to give information to the police in 2017 was aborted because he had been fearful.

“Because of fear for my life, because I know Blackman have top-tier policeman working with him which I don’t know their face or know them personally,” he had said. He however sought out the police again in 2018, giving multiple statements.

Yesterday McFarlane, in a hard-hitting cross-examination, intimated that the witness had made a calculated and “pre-emptive strike” when he approached the police in 2018, because he knew that Bryan was behind bars at that time.

Pressed by McFarlane as to whether he knew what Bryan had been charged with, the witness said, based on news reports he heard Bryan had been held for extortion and leading the gang, before quickly claiming that media reports are often “false”. According to the witness, even current reports of the case had been “false”.

He, in the meantime, maintained that in giving evidence against Bryan he was “afraid”, and remains so.

Asked by McFarlane why he had not been charged for his own role in the gang even though he told the police as much, the witness said, “You have to ask the police force, Sir.”

“I told myself, even if I was charged I would do my time to save people’s lives,” the witness said.

Replying to McFarlane’s sarcastic “So you are a martyr?” the witness said, “It wasn’t part of me to be part of a gang. I was forced into this gang by Blackman; I’m not a crime producer.”

“So when you were programming people like Doolie [alleged victim of gang] you weren’t a crime producer?” McFarlane shot back.

“I had no choice. Either I do what Blackman told me or I would be dead,” the witness said.