MONTEGO BAY, St James — A Montego Bay call centre employee was at the centre of a workplace incident when a colleague’s bank card and cash went missing — but the matter has now been resolved amicably outside the courtroom.

Natasha Pearson made her second appearance in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday before Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton, with attorney Chrishana Fregenette representing her.

During the session, the case was referred to mediation. The parties reached an agreement, and the prosecution subsequently offered no evidence. Pearson was discharged.

She had faced charges of two counts of obtaining credit by fraud and one count of simple larceny following a December 7, 2025 incident in which a co-worker reportedly left her debit card in a locker. The next morning, the card and cash were missing. Bank notifications revealed two approved transactions the previous evening: one at a Montego Bay food court at 7:26 pm, and another at a wholesale meat shop, with reports indicating that more than $12,000 was spent using the card.

Authorities were alerted immediately, and the complainant secured a replacement card while deactivating the missing one. Reports suggest video footage allegedly showed Pearson removing the card from her colleague’s bag.

With the mediation agreement in place, the matter concluded without a formal trial, offering relief to both parties.

Theft of $200,000 phone lands

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Lafranco Clarke and Renardo Harris appeared in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday after Clarke allegedly stole a Samsung Galaxy phone valued at $200,000, and Harris allegedly received it, knowing it was stolen.

Clarke pleaded guilty to simple larceny, while Harris pleaded not guilty to receiving stolen property.

The incident occurred on November 22, 2025, about 11:00 am at the complainant’s business on Fish Lane in St James.

The court heard that the complainant was sitting on a stool and placed his phone on it after getting up. Clarke, who was conducting business at the shop, allegedly took the phone. The complainant noticed suspicious activity on CCTV and reported the matter to the police.

Both men were subsequently arrested and charged.

Clarke told the police that he gave the phone to Harris, who said he bought it for $8,000 and did not know it was stolen. Clarke added that Harris then sold it to someone else for $15,000, but that he later caused the phone to be returned to the police.

Under caution Clarke is alleged to have said, “Mi wrong, mi shoulda lef mi family phone; a just because mi did tink a fi one of dem whoring gyal mi see inna di shop.”

Harris, meanwhile, stated, “Offica, do what yuh haffi do because mi neva know. Him come sell mi a phone fi $8,000 and mi sell it back fi $15,000.” He then turned to Clarke and said, “Yuh see what yuh draw mi inna today. As of today mi done wid yuh.”

The judge, noting Clarke had recently completed probation, asked why he continued appearing before her. Clarke replied, “It seems like when you try to run away from trouble, it seems like trouble just a follow you, Your Honour.”

Turning to Harris, the judge questioned why he did not consider that the phone’s value was far above $8,000. Harris said he did not look and gave a random price to make a profit.

“The fact that you bought it for $8,000 and sold it for $15,000 gives the presumption that you know that the price that you bought it for was way below market value,” the judge said, noting this should have been a clear signal that the item may have been stolen.

Harris’s case was set for case management on March 4, with Clarke’s sentencing scheduled for the same date. Their bail was extended.

Mother allegedly scratches child’s Spanish teacher after classroom dispute

MONTEGO BAY, St James — What began as a classroom exchange over pronunciation has escalated into a criminal matter now before the courts, drawing sharp focus to a dispute between a parent and her child’s teacher.

Ywanda Nelson appeared in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday before Justice Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton, charged with assault occasioning bodily harm against her child’s Spanish teacher.

According to allegations outlined before the court, the incident occurred on September 9, 2025, about 3:35 pm. The complainant, a Spanish teacher at a prominent high school in Montego Bay, was conducting a lesson and asking students to pronounce certain Spanish words.

The child of the accused reportedly had difficulty pronouncing the words and was given several attempts to do so. During the exchange, the teacher indicated that the child would have to change her accent in order to pronounce the words properly. The child responded that she was not going to change her accent to suit the complainant, to which the teacher replied, “I’m not going to change to suit anybody either.”

Later that day, Nelson reportedly went to the school accompanied by the child’s father and requested a private conversation with the teacher. During that encounter, Nelson is alleged to have become boisterous, saying, “A dis ya old pop-down gyal a disrespect mi pickney?”

An argument followed.

It is further alleged that the child’s father held onto the complainant, and while he was doing so, Nelson stretched over and used her hand to scratch the teacher’s face, causing bruises near her eye.

A report was made to the police, and Nelson was subsequently arrested and charged.

During the hearing, the court was told that both an eyewitness statement and a medical certificate are outstanding.

Nelson’s bail was extended until March 4.