KINGSTON, Jamaica – A British man received a fine of $50,000 or 30 days imprisonment for attempting to bribe a local police sergeant into not issuing him a traffic ticket.

The judgment was handed down at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday.

It was alleged that on June 24, 2026, 31-year-old Shawn Tyrell, who is currently visiting the island for vacation, offered the cop $4,000 not to issue him a traffic ticket.

Tyrell’s attorney told the court that he was instructed by his client that, as a British citizen, he is permitted in some instances to pay a traffic ticket immediately in cash. He said that when the cop issued the ticket, his client believed he could pay it in a similar manner and asked the officer, “if that is something that can be done now”.

However, the Crown maintained that the $4,000 was not an offer to pay the ticket but an offer to persuade the sergeant not to issue it.

Tyrell pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to bribe the police officer.

Senior Parish Court Judge Sanchia Burrell also demanded an apology from Tyrell to the police personnel in the courtroom for attempting to bribe a law enforcement officer.

“There are no circumstances under which any citizen, any individual hands to a police officer while he is doing his job a dollar. There is no legitimate circumstances where money changes hands with an officer during the course of his duty and the individual with whom the police is interacting. It is disrespectful, it is obviously corrupt and it is perverse,” Burrell said.

– Vanassa McKenzie