Black Immigrant Daily News
One of the 27 alleged members of the One Don faction of the Clansman gang, Ted Prince, has been ordered to receive medical attention after he complained of feeling pain in his head and left shoulder following a traffic accident.
Ahead of that development, two defendants were reportedly involved in a brief altercation, with one of the them claiming that he received an injury to his mouth as the police tried to quell the disturbance.
However, it was the situation with Prince that resulted in Chief Justice Bryan Sykes adjourning the continuation of his summation of evidence in the gang trial until Tuesday.
Prior to the expected resumption of the summation on Monday, Prince was observed lying on a bench in a separate courtroom on a video screen.
His left arm has been in a sling for the past three weeks after he claimed he was injured by wardens during an altercation, and was not brought for medical care.
When Sykes directed that Prince be brought to the main courtroom that he (the judge) was in, Prince said the police vehicle in which travelled, met in an accident.
“… A bare pain inna mi left hand and head,” the defendant remarked, adding that he only started to feel pain after the crash.
In response, Sykes said: “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, so the police will have to make arrangements for you to receive medical attention and treatment, if required.”
Prince was described by one of the prosecution’s main witnesses as having been a foot soldier in the gang, a claim which he denied during his unsworn statement from the prisoner’s dock.
Foot soldiers, the witness testified, were charged as being responsible for ensuring that murders that were ordered by alleged gang leader, Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, were carried out as planned. They were also responsible for collecting extortion money on occasions.
Prince, in denying those claims last year, told Sykes that he is a shoemaker by profession, and said he knew nothing about gang activities.
Meanwhile, Sykes enquired whether another defendant, Donovan Richards, required medical attention as well.
It was reported that before the start of court proceedings, Richards and one of his co-accused, Fabian Johnson, had a rift in the holding cell during a police search for contraband, including ganja.
Sykes had recently complained about the smell of marijuana in the Supreme Court building, especially in the afternoons.
After the police intervened in the reported squabble, Richards claimed that he was pushed by an officer, and received an injury to his mouth in the process.
But Richards told the judge that he did not require treatment for the injury.
“… No man, that alright, mi alright fi guh on, mi lord,” said the accused.
Richards is accused of being a member of a criminal organisation, but has denied the charge like all his fellow co-accused.
The accused are being tried under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations Act), 2014, better known as the anti-gang legislation, on an indictment containing several counts, including murder and arson.
The offences were allegedly committed between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2019, mainly in St Catherine, with at least one murder being committed in St Andrew.
NewsAmericasNow.com
