Klansman convict ‘Mawga Man’ who urinated in open court to face chief justice
Ted Prince o/c Mawga Man, the tetchy defendant who while on trial for crimes committed by the Klansman Gang urinated in a corner of courtroom number two in the decades-old Supreme Court, before all and sundry, has been summoned by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes.
Justice Sykes in handing down the final guilty verdict in the long-running trial on Wednesday evening — which happened to fall on Prince — informed him that he would need to acquire the services of an attorney to appear before him next Thursday “to show cause why” he “should not be cited for contempt” of court for his actions.
Prince, who was declared guilty by the trial judge in relation to murders, and also convicted as a member of the criminal organisation on Wednesday evening, had last Tuesday caused jaws to drop during the trial when he clambered over a court bench and relieved himself in the corner of the historical structure in an unprecedented move.
The Jamaica Observer was subsequently told that Prince, who was seated in the second of the two courtrooms being used for the trial, had been trying to get the attention of court staff there for some time to communicate his ’emergency’.
Not being successful, he raised his arm and was seen on the monitor in courtroom number one where the trial judge sits. Upon being acknowledged by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, Prince, stood to voice his distress.
But before the court’s registrar could make his way with a microphone to allow Prince to address the court, the lithe-bodied prisoner scrambled over the top of a court bench, aligned himself with a column of the exquisitely old world structure, pulled his zipper and urinated in the courtroom, to the dismay of frozen onlookers.
Following the disruption, the matter went to recess.
Court staff manning the area expressed consternation at the action of the defendant who walked out with his co-accused with an air of defiance while others of his co-accused scolded him.
Prince had been sporting an injured arm for several weeks following a fracas at the correctional facility where he is being held.
He on Wednesday was among 15 of the original 33 accused who were convicted for murders, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and membership of the criminal organisation.