A shocking case of a bail mix-up has left a woman shaken and demanding answers after she claimed she was wrongfully accused, handcuffed, detained, and brought before a judge.

The woman, a 52-year-old nurse, said bailiffs first appeared at her home in March of this year, demanding that she pay $50,000 because she posted bail for an individual who, since 2020, had not shown up to court.

She said that despite informing the bailiffs that they had the wrong person and she did not post bail for anyone, they showed up at her home on multiple occasions with police officers, threatening to arrest her if she did not pay the $50,000.

Determined to prove her innocence, the woman who spoke on condition of anonymity said she went to the courthouse in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, where she requested to see the file that listed her as the person who posted bail.

“I saw them searching, going through the file drawer. They [went] on the system and they say that they can’t find it, there’s nothing, they don’t see anything with the person they said I stand surety for, and they don’t see my name,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Despite this, she said she was shown a warrant with her name and address and asked to return to the courthouse once the file was found.

Six months later, on September 1, the woman said another bailiff appeared at her home with police officers, again demanding that she pay the amount or be arrested. However, she refused to comply until she was presented with solid evidence.

Her husband told the Sunday Observer that the officers insisted they had documentation that she was the person who posted bail, claiming they had a copy of her driver’s licence on file. However, he found their claims comical because his wife did not have a driver’s licence.

The 52-year-old woman said for four days she travelled back and forth to the courthouse, on each visit waiting to see if they had located the file in question.

“I had to shut down my business for two days,” she said, adding that she also acquired a lawyer.

On her visit to the courthouse on September 6 she said she was placed in a holding cell and waited five hours behind cold steel bars before being placed before a judge.

When the judge requested that the file in question be presented, the woman told the
Sunday Observer its contents revealed what she already knew to be true, that she was not the person they were looking for.

“The judge apologised and said she was sorry about that. She said she don’t know how on Earth my name and address get on a warrant,” the woman recounted.

She was also reportedly told by court employees that three other persons have made similar reports.

When contacted by the Sunday Observer, the Court Administration Division said they were not aware of any such incidents and would investigate the matter.

They advised individuals with similar experiences to get an attorney, seek audience with the clerk of court and examine the file, noting that once a warrant is issued, only the court can withdraw it.

In a call to action, the 52-year-old woman is demanding the implementation of steps to prevent similar incidents in the future, adding that unsuspecting people may have paid $50,000 on a Sunday evening because they didn’t want to be locked up.

Detailing her experience throughout the process, she said it was very stressful and time-consuming, and not many people would have the willpower to do what she did.

“What hurt me is when they put the handcuff on me. I work as a nurse for how many years and I’ve never had a run-in with the law, I’ve never had police lock me up. I never lived a criminal life or anything, and at 52 years old I walk in and you put on handcuff on me just to go to the courtroom. That really broke me,” she told the Sunday Observer.

“It can’t just be a mistake, and that’s [the end of] it,” she declared.