I have been reading story after story in recent days about the ruling of the Full Court with respect to the extension of the course of service for the current Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn.

As I followed the developing story I recalled the first time I actually met her. It was about 30 years ago when she had arrived in Trelawny to prosecute the Todd and Viarra murder case. They were two elderly residents who had been killed by gangsters because of a land dispute.

I was the investigator for the attorney who had a fiat to be associated with the prosecution. His name was Howard Hamilton.

Even at that early time in her career, Ms Llewellyn was already a legend.

The prosecution revealed that the jury was infiltrated by the gang, which, in essence, stopped the trial from proceeding.

A massive gang presence in the courtyard created a situation that required immediate evacuation to safety for all prosecution personnel. I recall, as it was going down, wondering how Ms Llewellyn’s father and brothers allowed her to do a dangerous job like this (yes, I come from a patriarchal household).

As I watched Ms Llewellyn’s career developed I always marvelled at her oratory skills and her inner strength, but it was her courage that impressed me most of all.

No gang was bad enough to scare her, no case too unpopular; she feared no one.

As someone who also fears no one I often compared how much greater her courage was than mine, as I had the backing of a police force; McKay Security; and the most well-trained squad in Caribbean policing. She had just her knowledge, her gift of gab, and a really broad back.

I look at this entire recent episode that has played out in the press and the courthouse as the biggest waste of court time and money I have ever seen and a living indictment on our country’s priorities.

We are facing the biggest gang threat, of being subject to gang rule since 1980, and we are wasting time on this garbage.

The gangs, as I have said before, are the best armed they have ever been. They are growing in numbers. Our becoming like Haiti in a decade is not just possible but probable, and we choose a time like this to attempt to destroy one of our heroes. This for committing the crime of wanting to send criminals to prison for another year and a half.

I wonder if you realise that the only possible way to defeat these gangs is the anti-gang legislation. We need the DPP and people like her to handle the execution of this law and its evolution. Instead, we are worrying about what hair we can split.

I also wonder if you realise that we need other young lawyers to dedicate their lives to the prosecution of killers and the protection of our weak. This at a salary that is tantamount to pocket change. But why would they if they see this treatment being meted out to a living legend who has done nothing but put her life and her family’s life on the line for decades?

We have our priorities all wrong. All I have seen in 30 years of being a participant in the courts is courageous people like Jeremy Taylor, Caroline Haye, Claudette Thompson, the current director and a slew of other attorneys sacrificing a lifetime doing the hardest job that a lawyer can do.

The other day at the opening of the St Catherine Circuit there were more than 400 cases before the court. The prosecutors have to read and prepare every single file. This whilst the court can barely function due to a gang war in the town because a killer who had been charged multiple times was shot by police defending themselves.

This should be what we are worried about. Yet, we sit down simply fiddling while our country burns.

Paula Llewellyn is the greatest DPP in our history. Many were great, but none existed in an environment with this many murders. None had to deal with the tyranny of the Independent Commission of Investigations trying to bypass the office of the DPP to charge police officers to please international powers. None had to crack the glass ceiling of gender stereotypes. I would also gamble that none have prosecuted as many major cases as she has.

This culture of destroying our heroes, or heroines for that matter, is going to catch up with us. It’s a trend; we can’t help ourselves.

If Bob Marley had lived long enough we would have destroyed him too. I know Ms Llewellyn will get past this, not because the court is wrong or right because I’m not qualified to say. I know because she is a fighter and if the extension was wrong she wouldn’t have accepted it. Until then, and after that, let’s change these stupid laws that retire good people at their most useful age.

Why should judges work until age 70 but the DPP should retire at 60 years of age? This is ridiculous. Even in the police force it’s silly. Why should a police superintendent at age 60 retire when our force is too small and we are at war?

Superintendents don’t assault houses. Even if they were required to do so and are capable, why should we retire them?

Doing dumb stuff because we’ve always done dumb stuff is not a sensible reason to keep doing dumb stuff. Think on that!

Feedback: drjasonamckay@gmail.com