Captured fugitive begs court for mercy
MONTEGO BAY, St James — With his fate hanging in the balance, Maurice Belnavis — the man behind a sensational jailbreak that rattled St James last year — stood in the dock Wednesday and pleaded with the court for a second chance.
“I am just looking for a sentence where I can go out because my sister wants to help me with the raising of chickens,” Belnavis told the court. “So I just want to finish with that and go back to society as a productive person because I have my children.”
The 43-year-old, who is from Greens in Paradise Norwood, made the impassioned appeal during his appearance before Parish Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton in the St James Parish Court. Belnavis is charged with escaping custody following his dramatic flight from the Barnett Street police lock-up on December 14, 2024.
But despite his plea, Judge Fairclough-Hylton made it clear that sentencing would not proceed until a social enquiry report and a full antecedent report were submitted to the court.
“Your honour, can you sentence me now?” Belnavis pleaded.
“No,” the judge replied. “I need to know what they have to say about you. Suppose I say you don’t have any convictions and the document shows that you have 10 convictions?” she explained before ordering that Belnavis be remanded until sentencing on September 17.
At the time of his escape, Belnavis had been in custody on a charge of simple larceny. The court did not provide any update on the status of that charge during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Belnavis remained at large for more than five months before being recaptured on May 29 in Ocho Rios, St Ann. Two days later he was returned to St James where the warrant for his escape had been executed.
His case stems from a high-profile jailbreak that saw five inmates flee the Barnett Street police lock-up in the early morning of December 14, 2024, triggering islandwide concern and a sweeping police manhunt. Of the five escapees, three were later fatally shot during what the police said were armed confrontations with lawmen across St James and Trelawny. Another was recaptured a day later in Spot Valley, St James.
