'Barefoot Bandit' to pay for crime spree that ended in Bahamas

SEATTLE, United States, Monday June 20, 2011 – The ‘Barefoot Bandit’, 20-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty in a US court to seven charges arising with his lengthy crime spree across the United States and ending in the Bahamas.

Harris-Moore, who committed his crimes while barefoot, struck a plea agreement in which the prosecution and defence will recommend between 63 and 78 months in prison.

Additionally, under the terms of the plea agreement, Harris-Moore forfeits any financial gain from telling his story and the proceeds would be used to compensate the victims of his crimes. His illegal activities resulted in at least US$1.4 million in losses to his victims.

Jamaican on US most wanted list

WASHINGTON, CMC – United States immigration authorities have placed a Jamaican national on its “Most Wanted” list.

The Immigration and Enforcement Agency (ICE) said that Hubert Thompson Downer is wanted for “Illegal re-entry as an aggravated felon and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

ICE said that Downer, 50, who weighs about 160 pounds, is originally from the tourist resort city of Montego Bay.

Governed by gangs - so what?

Dear Reader,

As far as I am concerned, the surprise of the Wikileaks revelations is not the biggest problem besetting our country. Even more profound than the day-to-day leaks is the unbelievable complacency of the Jamaican people. It is just amazing that the more we learn about the devious and corrupt practices of our politicians on both sides of the fence is the more complacent and apathetic we become.

I'm not sure that there is any place on Planet Earth, not even the countries with dictatorships (interestingly enough, those are now being toppled by people power), where the citizens remain so incredibly passive in the face of blatant governmental malfeasance and the resultant levels of economic and social decay.

Final Caribbean terror accused found guilty

NEW YORK, United States, Friday May 27, 2011 – Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim now faces up to life in prison after being convicted yesterday of conspiring to attack the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.

Sentencing for Ibrahim, an Imam and leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Trinidad and Tobago, has been scheduled for October 21.

Ibrahim is the last of four Caribbean accused to be tried for the plot to explode fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the JFK airport.

Going For Dudus

The mayhem started late Sunday May 23, 2010 as armed men brazenly took on the security forces in a sustained attack on police stations in anticipation of the attempt to apprehend strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

It ended three days later, leaving dozens dead in its wake.

Much of downtown Kingston was locked tight for most of Sunday, denying motorists access to the island's central business district.

Men believed to be from west Kingston, joined by scores of young men from other communities, all declared their loyalty to Coke as they sealed all entrances to Tivoli Gardens by blocking roads with debris, vehicles and sandbags.

Cocaine valued at $1.4 million seized off Puerto Rico

AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico -- US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) air and marine units on Wednesday night intercepted a vessel with 47 bricks of cocaine near the Cabo Rojo lighthouse, Puerto Rico.

Near midnight the crew of the CBP Caribbean Air and Marine Branch (CAMB) DHC-8 aircraft detected a vessel traveling east without navigational lights towards Cabo Rojo, on the southwest coast of the island.

The aircraft notified a CBP Mayaguez Marine Unit Interceptor with the position of the suspect vessel.

Jamaican police searching for 'Devil Head', 'Tittyman'

DETECTIVES from the Kingston Western Division are seeking the public’s assistance in locating 12 persons for questioning.

These individuals have been identified as persons of interest and are to report at the Denham Town Police Station no later than 1:00 pm tomorrow.

'Don't point guns at people, unless…' - Commish

COMMISSIONER of Police Owen Ellington has ordered Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) personnel to desist from pointing their weapons at members of the public unless their safety is threatened.

Members of the constabulary are notorious for pointing their weapons at members of the public during stop and search and other operations and Ellington, in this week's Force Orders, said that the practice must end.

"At no time should the police point weapons directly at individuals unless they are under threat and or intend to shoot. Weapons kept at the ready should be lowered as soon as any threat is defused," he said.

Grenada joins International Criminal Court

NEW YORK, USA -- Grenada has acceded to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) -- the founding treaty of the first permanent international court capable of trying perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Ambassador Dessima Williams, Permanent Representative to the United Nations on Thursday deposited Grenada’s Instrument of Accession to the Rome Statute of the ICC at a ceremony at the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations in New York.

St Vincent resists removing death penalty, buggery laws

GENEVA, Switzerland, Monday May 16, 2011 – The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has given St Vincent and the Grenadines kudos for its progress in the fields of human rights and national development, but has made recommendations for other improvements, some of which the multi-island state has resisted.

The country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves, said in a statement yesterday that of 92 recommendations which the UNHRC made for national action and consideration, 17 which dealt mainly with the death penalty and laws relating to buggery were not accepted by the Government.

Stanford to face September fraud trial

TEXAS, United States, Thursday May 12, 2011 – Alleged Ponzi Schemer Allen Stanford will go to trial in another four months, a judge has decided.

US District Judge David Hittner, who had postponed Stanford’s January trial so he could get treatment for addiction to anti-depressants, this week signed an order for the court case to begin with jury selection on September 12.

Stanford’s defence team has not indicated whether it is in agreement with the new date.

Extortion down in Spanish Town Jamaica

WITH the recent conviction of leader Tesha Miller and the deaths of several of their more notorious cronies, police say 'Klansman' gangsters are losing their grip on business in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

"Klansman is disappearing more and more and what we are seeing is a rise in the confidence and security of consumers and businesses," said Deputy Police Superintendent Victor Hamilton, one of the commanders in the St Catherine North police division.

More cops to hit the streets of Jamaica

Graduates march and twirl their weapons to the tune of the popular song Eye of the Tiger during their passing-out parade at the Twickenham Park Police Academy in St Catherine on Friday.

TWO hundred and ninety-one new policemen and women have joined the ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary Force following a Passing Out Ceremony at the Police Training School in Twickenham Park on Friday.
This latest batch of graduates has been charged by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who gave the keynote address at the event, to play their part in rebuilding the organisation's image.

Golding welcomed the graduates, saying their addition to the force could not have come at a better time.
"You were specially chosen, and those who made the selection saw in you something that they did not see in the others," said Golding, who applauded the graduates for ignoring the negative criticisms they may have encountered from members of the public when they made the decision to join the force.

Cut crime and GDP could increase 5%, says World Bank

JAMAICA could grow its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 5.4 percentage points, if the country reduces its crime levels to that of Costa Rica. The suggestion was made by the World Bank in its 2011 World Development Report.

The Report shows that Jamaica spends U$S385 million, or J$33 billion a year, on indirect medical and other costs related to crime and violence.

Cop killer to hang in St Lucia

Almost three years after the first death of a policeman in the line of duty, the killer is sentenced to death.

CASTRIES, St Lucia, – A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of Police Constable Lester Garvin Remy who in 2008 became the first lawman to die in the line of duty in St Lucia.

High Court judge Kenneth Benjamin passed sentence on Mitchel ‘Bage’ Joseph on Wednesday at the end of weeks of pre-sentencing hearings. Joseph was found guilty on December 6 last year, after a two week trial, for the April 27, 2008 murder of the 27-yaer-old policeman.

Defence attorney Al Elliot has indicated he will be filing an appeal on behalf of his client.

Joseph, a father of one, has several previous convictions.

At the time of his death, Constable Remy had been in the St Lucia Police Force for 10 years and had been attached to the Major Crimes Unit.

On the day of the shooting, the officer had not even been on duty. He had been planning to go on a boat trip with colleagues when he saw Joseph who he wanted to speak to in connection with some several aggravated burglaries. After assembling some other officers, he went with a warrant to search for property at Joseph’s mother’s home.

According to the evidence given during the trial, when the police approached the house in their vehicle Joseph, who was standing just outside stepped back into the yard and Constable Remy jumped out and ran behind him.

It was while trying to detain the suspect that the young policeman was shot four times at point blank range.

NGO says Guyana President leaves tattered legacy

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) says President Bharrat Jagdeo did "terribly" in his two terms in office and leaves stagnation, violence, corruption and unfettered crime in his wake.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, – “Stagnation, violence, corruption, arch-sectarianism, and unfettered crime – this is the heritage that President Bharrat Jagdeo will bequeath to his country.”

That was the harsh assessment by the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) Research Associates Robert Cavooris and Elcin Chang, in a statement which gave Jagdeo poor marks for his performance during his two terms in office.

“Now that Jagdeo has announced that he will not seek a third term in the upcoming August election he may well ask, as a New York mayor once did, “How did I do?” The answer, in this instance, must be “terribly”,” the statement said.

“Jagdeo could only receive the lowest of marks from any independent evaluation. Through his tolerance of crime, racism, and dismal social progress, President Jagdeo has turned in a fifth-rate performance as president of one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere. As the Guyanese use every strategy, legal and illegal, to flee the dysfunctional country, Jagdeo will go down in history as a man who did almost nothing for his nation while in office.”

Electronic ankle bracelets

BERMUDA – Offenders to start wearing electronic ankle bracelets

Posted by on Aug 30th, 2010 // No Comment

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – The Bermuda government says it will implement a programme next month that will allow offenders to be fitted with electronic ankle bracelets.

Attorney General and Justice Minister Kim Wilson told a news conference Monday that the devices would cut the cost of keeping defendants awaiting trial on remand in prison and would also be used to monitor those on parole or subject to probation orders.

“This initiative has been introduced to find alternatives to incarceration within Bermuda without compromising the safety of society and to keep track of offenders,” Wilson said.

“Technological innovation to monitor offenders electronically has been devised since the 1960s and has since been introduced for correctional use in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and in other nations worldwide in an effort to reduce the prison populations.”

She said a judicial video-conferencing system was also being installed “with a view to early implementation”.

It will be used in some Supreme Court and Magistrates’ Court trials involving vulnerable witnesses, such as children, as well as for prisoners’ remand hearings.

"DOG PAW" ADDED TO THE LIST

THE Area Four Police yesterday released the names of Jamaica's 16 most wanted men, whose apprehension they believe will result in a marked reduction in crime throughout Kingston and St Andrew.

Ten of the men are wanted for murder and the others have been linked to incidents of shootings within the Area Four geographic divisions, which covers the volatile areas of Kingston West, Kingston Central, Kingston East, St Andrew Central and St Andrew South.

The names were released during a police press conference at the Area Four Police headquarters in downtown Kingston.

"The drive to apprehend these men is part of a major initiative to clamp down on crime and violence in Kingston and St Andrew," Assistant Commissioner of Police Gervis Taylor told the Observer following the briefing.

Gervis, who heads the division, said the arrests would result in a massive reduction in crime, as men were believed to wield considerable influence throughout the areas in which they operate.

The assistant commissioner, during the press briefing, called on members of the public to assist with the men's apprehension.

Heading the most wanted list is August Town resident, Christopher Linton who goes by the name "Dog Paw". Linton is wanted for several crimes within the St Andrew Central Police Division including murder.

"He is a significant player in a number of murders in August Town," said Superintendent Derrick 'Cowboy' Knight, who heads St Andrew Central Police Division.

Knight said the "number one policy" is to apprehend Linton whose weapon of choice is said to be the AK47.

The police said they have been trying for some time to apprehend Linton and have sent messages for him to turn himself in only to be told in return, "Uno have to get pass me gun."

The number two man on the list is being identified as Omar Miller, who is popularly know as "Andy Foul".

Miller, who is identified as the interim leader of the Tivoli Gardens Gang, is wanted for his alleged involvement in several murders throughout the Western Kingston area.

Police say Miller has been on the run since fleeing Tivoli Gardens during the operations by members of the security forces in May to apprehend then Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who has since been extradited to the United States where he is awaiting trial on drug-trafficking and gunrunning charges.

The police say they were preparing for violent confrontations in their efforts to apprehend the men.