As Andre “Lord Evil” Jackman and three of his former co-accused walked away from a murder charge Friday, a senior member of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions made it clear that neither he nor any of his colleagues were in the pay of any member of the public.
Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale said he expected such rumours to circulate when the news of the dismissal in the highly publicised case hits the island.
And as one of the men spends his first day home in four years, attorney Arthur Holder says he will be suing the state for his detention.
The comments came as Jackman, of Stroud Bay, Crab Hill; Rory St Clair Thomas, of Grape Hall; Zaviere Renaldo Walkes, of Archer’s Road, Crab Hill, and Shane Hakeem Omar Babb, also of Grape Hall, all in St Lucy, appeared in the No. 2 Supreme Court.
The four had been indicted with the April 26, 2014 murder of Charley Dume, who was gunned down in a bar at the corner of Nelson and Wellington Streets.
Seale told presiding Justice Randall Worrell that after he had perused the thick file over and over again, and consulted with Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard, he found the evidence was not of a quality or nature to substantiate the charge against the four. There was, he stressed, no evidence of joint enterprise or that the four men had gone to the bar with a set plan.
He then said the Crown would not be proceeding with the matter against the four.
There were no objections from Arthur Holder, who along with Danielle Mottley and Shadia Simpson, appeared on behalf of Jackman and Walkes; Queen’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, who represented Thomas, and Verla DePeiza, who represented Babb. (HLE)
