Dancehall artiste Kiprich is now a free man after the prosecution withdrew the criminal case against the deejay in the St Catherine Parish Court on Tuesday.

READ: Kiprich charged, granted bail

Defence attorney Patrick Peterkin was pleased with the outcome of the case.

“The prosecution withdrew the case against my client so I am pleased. We had some concerns about the nature of the charges, especially constitutional issues but we never went that far because evidentially, the prosecution did not meet the mustard to even go that far,” Peterkin said.

The Telephone Ting deejay, whose real name is Marlon Plunkett, had been charged under section 18A of the Offences Against the Person Act which deals with the use of audio, visual or audiovisual communication to promote criminal activity.

Throughout the proceedings, Plunkett had consistently maintained his innocence, affirming that he was not involved in any gang activity, and that he was not inciting violence in any state or form.

“People have the right to express but this law is placing a burden on artistes who might find themselves getting locked up in droves just for doing their jobs,” Peterkin warned.

Kiprich reportedly did a custom-order dubplate for a foreign-based selector in the wake of the death of One Order Gang leader Othniel “Thickman” Lobban, which his management team said was spliced and changed to express more inflammatory language than was originally intended.

Police say Lobban was a key figure in Jamaica’s criminal underworld with influence in several sections of the island. He allegedly had extensive involvement in shootings, extortion, and the enforcement of gang dominance in areas like Eltham Park, Jobs Lane, Cedar Valley and James Mountain in St Catherine and sections of Mountain View Avenue in St Andrew.

Lobban was killed in an alleged shootout with cops in Six Miles in St Andrew earlier this year.