The guns which were found buried in the Santoy Cemetery in Hanover on Sunday
While Christians across the parish were celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday, the Hanover police had a different reason to celebrate as they unearthed a small cache of guns and ammunition at the Santoy Cemetery at Green Island in the parish.
The cache included one Intratec sub-machine gun, one Taurus
Pistol, one mini Taurus Pistol, one Smith and Wesson Pistol, as well as
Seventy-six 9mm rounds of ammunition.
The police report that about 1:10p.m. on Sunday, a team of
police acting on information went to the Santoy Cemetery along Church Hill
Road, where they carried out an operation.
During the operation, the lawmen unearthed the guns and
ammunition.
No one was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Meanwhile, Divisional Commander, Superintendent Sharon
Beeput, said the police’s operational activities were heightened as several
social events were scheduled to take place throughout the parish during the
Easter holiday period, adding that the operations were part of plans to ensure
the safety and security of residents and visitors alike.
Superintendent Beeput said an intense investigation is
now underway to find suspected persons in relation to the seizure.
Westmoreland
Meanwhile, about 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the
Westmoreland police conducted an operation in an abandoned house at Enfield
district, Darliston in the parish. During the operation, a .380 pistol with ten
rounds of ammunition were found. No arrest was made in connection with the
seizure
Steve Earle, o/c ‘Cha Cha’, who has since turned himself over to the police
Wanted man turns himself in
Barrington Flemming – Staff Reporter
A police constable is now in serious but stable
condition in hospital, following a brazen gun attack on him on Sunday at
Hendon, Norwood in Montego Bay, St. James, while one of the alleged attackers
is now in police custody as crime fighters struggle to piece together the circumstances
which could have led to the attack on the lawman.
Reports are that the police constable, identified as Sheldon Murray of the St. James Police Division, was visiting a friend when he was pounced upon by two men armed with guns who shot him several times. He reportedly received eight shots to the chest and arm.
Brandon Stora
He was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he
reportedly underwent emergency surgery.
Following the attack, the police listed two men, 23-year-oldBrandon Stora, otherwise called ‘Cha Cha’, of Paradise Housing Scheme,
Norwood in St. James and Steve Earle, otherwise called ‘Pedro’, ‘Monster’,
‘Forehead’ and ‘Shane’, welder of Hendon, Norwood.
Wanted in connection with the shooting of the police
constable, they were called on to turn themselves in to the police by midday on
Tuesday.
Earle heeded the call
and accompanied by his lawyer, turned himself in to the police on Tuesday
approximately 11:40 a.m. Stora, however,
failed to show.
The police in the meantime have launched a manhunt for Stora
and are asking anyone with information which can assist them in locating him to
call the Montego Bay Police Station at 876-953-6191, Crime Stop at 311, Police
119 emergency number or the nearest Police Station.
Citizens are being reminded that it is not only an offence
to harbour criminals and provide a safe haven for them, but it also places the
lives of family and friends at risk.
ON A CHARGE: Darting up the court, Androy Clarke of the Sav Elite Titans, bursts between the MoBay Cricket Club Knights pair of Jermaine Allwood (R) and Damoy Daje in the early stages of the opening game in the Western Elite Basketball League match played at the Montego Bay Cricket Club. Knights won the encounter.
Noelita Lawrence photo
Noelita Lawrence – Staff Reporter
Last year’s beaten finalists, Montego Bay
Cricket Club Knights, and former champions Catherine Hall All Stars, marked off
early wins on Sunday, April 14, as action tipped off in the 2019 edition of the
Western Elite Basketball League (EBL) with a double header at the Montego Bay
Cricket Club.
Beginning in the
usual late start, the League opened more than half-an-hour behind the scheduled
time with a new-look Knights engaging Sav Elite Titans.
In an entertaining
game filled with tension, Knights ran over Sav Elite Titans, who saw a player
forced off the court for foul and abusive language geared towards a teammate,
85-58.
It was a fairly
competitive going affair in the opening quarter of the game with Knights,
missing a number of key players, taking the quarter 18-13, despite
traditionally making slightly slow starts to their games.
Knights upped their
intensity in the mid quarters and took the game away from their travelling
Westmoreland opponents in a dominant 21-16 and 26-17 performance which gave
them a comfortable 65-46 lead going into the fourth and final quarter.
They increased the
final score with another 20 points tally to their opponent’s 12 as they ticked
off the first win of the season in emphatic and business-like fashion.
Jermaine Allwood, electric from the get-go and who pushed
with several early fast break points, carried the team in scoring with 16
points and effected 8 steals, while Daniel Malcolm added 15 and also had 7
steals.
Lanky schoolboy, Omar Campbell also gave solid support,
adding a double-double, 14 poins and snatched 12 rebounds, while Rayon Gardiner
contributed 11 and grabbed 8 rebounds to go with his 6 assists.
The returning Lemar Mitchell, who proved solid on the
defensive end, also made a contribution of 10 points and hauled down 4
rebounds.
For the Titans, Richard Chambers, who missed the opening
quarter, led his team with 20 points and was supported by Richard Russell, who
added 11 points.
CLIFFHANGER
In the match of the evening, promoted MoBay Boys’ Club
Warriors had their prospect of an opening day victory snatched in a stinging
72-73 defeat to the Catherine Hall All Stars, ex-many times winners.
Michael Schloss, who fizzed the winner with a put back with
three seconds on the clock, again dazzled with 25 points, 11 rebounds and three
steals in guiding the All Stars to an opening win in thrilling fashion.
Schloss was supported by Errol Steele, 18 points.
For the Warriors, Levar Rose and Tafari Vassell combined for
29 points with Vassell grabbing 18 rebounds and Rose dishing 7 assists.
In a high quality encounter, the lead changed hands several
times before All Stars took a narrow advantage late in the final quarter.
As time expired and with the contest tied up, veteran Goyan
Malcolm split a double team to put up a lay-up, but his effort missed and on
the follow-up, the energetic Schloss managed to put back the rebound, snatching
the dramatic win as time expired.
The action continues on Thursday, April 18, with Cornwall
Court Chargers and the defending champions Granville Jaguars locking horns.
The community of Cambridge in St. James is still in the throes of grief as it mourns the untimely passing of 23-year-old Travoy James, who died from injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle collision, while another man was injured during the incident on the Rose Hall main road in the parish on Saturday, April 13.
Reports from the Barrett Town Police are that about 3:45
a.m., James was driving a Toyota Sprinter motor car with a passenger aboard
along the Rose Hall main road heading towards Montego Bay. On reaching a
section of the roadway, he allegedly lost control of the vehicle, which veered
off the road crashed into a tree and overturned.
Both men sustained multiple injuries and were taken to
hospital, where James was pronounced dead and the other man admitted in stable
condition.
It has been reported that James, a hotel worker, and his
colleague were returning from an event in Trelawny when the incident occurred.
And, Fish River Road residents in Hanover are mourning the
death of 50-year-old Fitzroy Morgan, who died of injuries he sustained in a
motor vehicle collision in his community on Sunday.
Reports from the Green Island Police are that about 4:00
p.m., Morgan was driving his motorcycle in a northerly direction when he
attempted to negotiate a corner and lost control of the motorcycle, which
crashed into a wall. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Burnette Marston, o/c ‘Blood Stain’ who was killed in Hopewell on Monday
Barrington Flemming/Craig Oates – Staff Reporter
The spiraling cases
of murder in Western Jamaica continue to prove a major challenge for
crime-fighters with blood continuing to stain the region.
Violence-producers claimed the lives of three men, with the
dead being identified as 35-year-old fisherman, Burnette Marston, otherwise
called ‘Blood Stain’ of McQuarrie, Hopewell, Hanover; 38-year-old Joel Fraser,
cook shop operator of Dalling Street, Westmoreland, and an unidentified man in
St. James.
Reports to the Western Mirror are that at about 5:30 Monday afternoon, Marston was walking along the Aston King Highway in Hanover, from the fishing beach towards Hopewell with a strong of fish in his hand. On reaching the intersection at the Pond Piece main road, he was approached by an unknown man who was armed with a gun.
Marston reportedly ran and the man chased him and fired several
shots in his direction, sending several persons who were in the area scampering
for covering.
Marston, who received two shots to the head, was taken to
hospital where he was pronounced dead. The gunman is said to have escaped on
foot.
And, Mayor of Lucea, Councillor Sheridan Samuels, in
deploring the latest shootings in the parish, called on the Police to take the
necessary actions to ensure that the criminal elements involved in the
shootings be brought to justice.
WESTMORELAND
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring parish of Westmoreland, gun
crimes continue to keep investigators busy, with the murder of one man and the
shooting and wounding of another in separate incidents in the parish between
Sunday and Monday.
One firearm was also taken into police custody.
Information gleaned by the Western Mirror is that about 6:55
p.m. on Sunday at Hatfield, Fraser was among a group of men at his cook shop,
when a motorcycle rode up with two men aboard and stopped. The men alighted from the motorcycle
brandishing handguns. They opened fire hitting Fraser.
He was taken to the Savanna-la-Mar General Hospital where he
was pronounced dead.
And, still in Westmoreland, a man is now nursing a gunshot
wound to the mouth after a tussle between another man and himself at his home in
Truro, Frome on Monday.
Reports indicate that
at 10:55p.m., the man was about to open the front door to his house when a man
known to him approached pointing a gun at him.
The man reportedly ran to the side of the house and the
gunman gave chase and caught up with him and shot him in the mouth.
A tussle ensued and the wounded man wrestled the gun from
the other man and ran to a nearby house to seek refuge. He was later accompanied
to the police station and then taken to the hospital where he was admitted and
treated.
ST. JAMES
Meanwhile, crime sleuths in St. James are still to identify
the body of man who was shot and killed at a party in Tucker on Saturday while
another man is in hospital nursing gunshot wounds.
The dead man is of dark complexion, medium build, 165
centimetres (5 feet 5 inches) in height and appears to be in his latest
twenties. The deceased also has a round face and a low haircut, and was clad in
grey T-shirt with the word ‘Vendetta’ written on the front, black jeans with a
black belt and cream shoes.
Reports from the Granville Police are that about 11:40 p.m.,
persons were at a party in the vicinity of a shop in the community when several
explosions were heard. The Police were called and on their arrival, the now
deceased was found lying face-down in the shop; he had been shot several times.
The injured man was found nearby. He was assisted to the
hospital, where he was admitted for treatment.
St. James High’s Reiki Brown, the son of famed footballer Neville Brown, goes by his York Castle opponent, Princelar Bryan, in the teams’ ISSA Western Conference Under-14 Basketball match played at the Montego Bay Cricket Club.
Noelita Lawrence photo
Noelita Lawrence – Staff Reporter
St. James continued their impressive stroll through the
preliminary rounds of the ISSA Western Conference Under-14 Basketball
Competition and punched their tickets to the semi-finals after remaining
undefeated after eight rounds of games.
At the Montego Bay
Cricket Club, St. James High, former beating sticks of the Conference, chalked
up a 55-31 victory over York Castle to remain the only undefeated team.
The latest victory lifts
the St. James High team to 16 points; opening up a five-point lead over
defending champions and second-positioned Herbert Morrison Technical High.
Malike Marston was
the star scorer for the winners, sinking 14 points as they led from start to
finish in the contest getting in double digits for all but the second quarter
of the affair.
Despite being kept
off the scoreboard for the entire opening quarter, Ricky Richards had a
game-high 16 for losing York Castle.
In the first game of
the double header at the Cricket Club, Holland High coasted by Muschett 32-10
in the Trelawny derby, improving their record to 2-4 with Muschett remaining
with just a solitary victory.
Elsewhere,
struggling champs, Herbert, exacted revenge on their bitter city rivals, outscoring
them 20-14 in an uninspiring and low-scoring encounter at Bogue.
Darren McFarlane
with 5 points, four blocks and 10 rebounds led the scoring for the Herbert
team.
Shemar Martin of
Cornwall starred for his team with 5 points, 5 rebounds and 9 steals.
Just two rounds of
games remain ahead of the semi-finals.
GRADUATES AND THE OFFICIALS: The graduates from the Behaviour Change Programme pose for a photo with officials at the closing out ceremony. Executive Director of the Family and Parenting Centre Dr. Beverly Scott (4th left), Mona Sue Ho, Social Development Manager of JSIF (3rd left) and Rashaun Stewart, Head Boy of Cornwall College, are at centre, while TaSheka Malcolm-Dawson – Project Officer, JSIF is at left. Barrington Flemming – Chairman of Family and Parenting Centre, is at right. – Bunny’s Photo Studio Photos
CC Head Boy urges pursuit of excellence
Barrington Flemming – Staff Reporter
Orayon Williams and Bevaneisha Hewitt emerged as Valedictorians at the closing out ceremony of the six-month-long Behaviour Change Programme sponsored by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the European Union, administered by the Family and Parenting Centre.
The closing out ceremony saw 27 at-risk young people from the communities of Granville and Tucker in St. James completing the programme, which was crafted to divert them from crime and violence that could potentially impact the community.
YOUTH LEADER SPEAKS: Rashaun Stewart, Head Boy of Cornwall College and former Junior Mayor of Montego Bay, addresses the graduates at the closing out Ceremony for the six-month-long Behaviour Change Programme administered by the Family and Parenting centre. The programme was jointly sponsored by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the European Union.
Mona Sue Ho – Social Development Manager of Jamaica Social investment Fund, brought
greetings on behalf of the sponsoring agency.
Guest Speaker, Rashaun Stewart, Head Boy of Cornwall
College, and former Junior Mayor of Montego Bay, in issuing his charge to the
graduates, encouraged them to forge ahead on a platform of excellence that that they have been
granted through the programme.
“You are the cornerstones of the future. Fate exerts no
control over you. You dictate your terms to fate. That is why you need to remember
that ten-letter word: dedication. Never sway from your path. Carve a path to
the future with your ironclad will,” he said.
Stewart also encouraged them to embrace the opportunities
for self-development that the advancement of technology now presents to them.
“You are the world; you are the future. The future rests in
your hands. With the advent of technology and globalization, the generation gap
has never been wider than it currently is – and it continues to increase. The
current generation exists in the golden age of technology, where new and
improved technological devices develop almost daily. Never before has the
future been as bright as it is now,” Stewart said.
For his part, Williams said the programme had equipped them
to become change agents within their communities, and improved their capacity
to achieve.
“We have the potential to make an inspiring contribution to
others by being true to our values and committing ourselves to towering goals.
Our communities will certainly benefit from our changed behaviour celebrating
what we have accomplished.”
His counterpart Hewitt said through the programme, they had
received education and training which had made them prepared to undertake
whatever challenge they had to face.
“I want you to know what a great gift it is to be prepared
the subjects we were taught have now prepared us to go out into the world of
work and attain greatness. We are now ready to leave the comfort and security
of this school and be ready to embark on an exciting new adventure”,
Executive Director of the Family and Parenting Centre, Dr.
Beverly Scott, who gave an update,
highlighted that the six-month programme
engaged the participants in
Remedial Education, Life Skills Training, Self-Esteem building, Anger
Management, Conflict Resolution and Peace Building.
“The programme was very inclusive. It involved letter
writing, resume writing and interviewing skills and vocational skills
including, barbering, hairdressing sewing, soft furnishing and apprenticeship.
I am happy that these persons are now trained and certified, which empowers
them to function effectively in the society,” Scott said.
Hanover, according to Wikipedia, is a parish located on the
northwestern tip of the island of Jamaica. It is a part of the County of
Cornwall, bordered by St James in the east and Westmoreland in the south. With
the exception of Kingston, it is the smallest parish on the island. Hanover is
the birth parish of Sir Alexander Bustamante, Labour leader, first head of
government of Jamaica under Universal Adult Suffrage, and one of seven Jamaican
National Heroes. Percival James Patterson is also the other native of the
parish who has risen to become Prime Minister. The capital of Hanover is Lucea,
but Hopewell to the east and Green Island to the west both have fast-growing
populations.
Since the start of the year, the parish of Hanover has been
under siege by criminal elements that have used the gun to kill and maim each
other, sending the once quiet parish’s murder figures through the roof. Murders
are taking place right across the parish and no community is exempt. However it
is the Sandy Bay Division that has been seeing an upsurge in these heinous
crimes. In a parish once known for its peacefulness, crime and violence have
instilled fear in the general citizenry. How did the parish come to this?
Criminals are no longer fearful of cops, they carry their
guns around with impunity and shoot and kill without fear. This has been the
situation for the last few years, but the start of this year is the worst I
have ever seen it. Superintendent of Police, Sharon Beeput, commanding officer
for Hanover, must, by her actions, prove that she is up for the job and if she
is not, she should ask the Police High Command to find a suitable replacement
to carry out the job of chief police officer for the parish. When criminals can
come into Hopewell square and shoot two individuals on separate days, at peak
hours, it speaks volumes to the deployment of police personnel in the parish.
It is plain to be seen that the criminal elements have no respect for the police
because if they did, they would not carry their guns so openly into these
public spaces.
Then, to add insult to injury, it is quite obvious that the
number of police personnel that should be deployed at the respective police
stations have not been deployed. The station at Sandy Bay is vastly
underutilized as it relates to personnel, with many of the patrols that are
being carried out in the division being undertaken by police patrol units from
Lucea. In a rural parish such as Hanover, policing needs a personal touch and
whilst residents value the service of police patrol teams in jumping out of
jeeps, they also value good, old time policing where they can go to the station
and interact with police officers.
In all of the killings and shootings, I am yet to hear
Superintendent Beeput’s voice making public statements to the residents of
Hanover reassuring them that they will be safe. This is made further evident by
the measures she has been implementing
to curb the killings. Many who read this column know the respect that I
have for Miss Beeput, so much so that she was given this writer’s Female Leader
of the Year award; but as a resident and investor in the parish, I speak truth
to power and the truth is she needs to step up her game. If she cannot, then
the police high command will need to find someone else to do the job. It is as
simple as that. We cannot have persons being murdered left, right and centre
and the crime-fighting head is quiet.
Superintendent Beeput must know that there is a place for community
policing and a place for hardcore crime fighting. Is she up for the latter? The
police high command should also know that they should give the Hanover Police
the tools they need to fight crime. It’s sad that police vehicles are still
running out of gas and police vehicles are still grounded because there are no
parts to fix them. There is also shortage of uniform, and an acute shortage of
stationery, which in some cases see officers searching frantically to locate a
sheet or sliver of paper to write a
statement and collect reports.
It is heartrending
when communities such as Bamboo, Old Pen, Cold Spring, Pondside and Rock Spring
have now become flashpoint areas where criminal elements are fighting internal
battles; you know that we are facing serious problems because these are among
the most peaceful communities in
Hanover. Hanover can do better and Superintendent Beeput must lead from the
front or come out of the driver’s seat. Fighting crime is not a laughing
matter. Hanover needs better; we can fight this rime monster. What we need is
leadership. Enough said.
Teenage boys have shot to the limelight
in Westmoreland with a 17-year-old formally charged for murder and a
16-year-old charged for illegal possession of firearm mere hours apart.
A grade eleven
student of the Grange Hill High School, who was detained in connection with the
stabbing death of 44-year-old security guard, Clifton Lumley on March 29, was
formally charged for murder by the police on Monday, following a
question-and-answer session.
Lumley, who was
attached to the Alpha Security Services, was at school on Friday, March 29,
when two boys, one of whom was on suspension, entered the school compound at
approximately 2:50 in the afternoon after allegedly climbing over the security
fence.
Lumley and the dean
of discipline at the school, reportedly asked the boys to leave the premises
and they left, but subsequently returned. It is alleged that a dispute
developed between the boys and Lumley and the police was called.
Lumley, along with
other persons, were sitting at the front of the guard room when the boys ran
towards them. The other person got up while Lumley stayed. One of the boys allegedly hit Lumley on the
shoulder with a stick.
Realizing he was
under attack, Lumley attempted to enter the guardroom when the other boy used a
knife to stab him several times. He was rushed to the Sav-la-Mar General
Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the
Westmoreland police report that last Wednesday, a 16-year-old boy was walking
along the road in Bethel Town when he was stopped by the lawmen.
A knapsack he was
carrying was searched and the police reportedly found a homemade hand gun He
was subsequently taken into custody and later charged.
Sections of the hill from which the rock and wall gave way in Flanker recently. Contributed photos
Sashane Shakes – Staff Reporter
The abrupt collapse of a three-foot wall and the boulder upon which it was constructed has left two families on edge with apprehension that their homes will eventually lose foundation and give way altogether.
The incident took place at a community in Flanker, St.
James, on Wednesday March 27 at 2:30 a.m. and involves 2 houses, one of which
is located on top of a hill, while the other is situated at the bottom.
Separating both houses is a three-foot wall which sits on top of a large
boulder.
Accounts from one of the residents, Doreen Willocks, 62, who
lives in the 2-storey house on top of the hill, are that she awoke to crashing
noises and slight shakings. Upon rushing outside, Willocks and the other
occupants of her house, including her neighbours, witnessed the ordeal. The
wall capsized and crashed onto the structurally compromised rock. The impact of
both structures is believed to have severely weakened the foundation of the
homes involved. The landslide-like disaster lasted for all of 16 minutes.
“Right now I don’t like to talk about it. Part of the back
is still breaking away and some more sections have cracked since the incident
took place. The column on the steps are now cracked and could break away
easily, especially if rain falls,” said a tearful Willocks.
While there are cracks to the foundation of Willocks’ house,
the columns threaten to give way and the side of her house sits vulnerably at
the edge overlooking what now lays the remains of the wall and rock. Her
neighbours were also left to suffer as the crumbling rock and wall caved in on
their kitchen and car. It is believed that the five (5) occupants of that house
still live there.
As for Willocks, she has since relocated to the other house
in her yard which belongs to her daughter who no longer resides there. Her
2-storey home was initially occupied by herself, her husband Leroy Willocks,
74, their daughter-in-law Annakay Lewis and the 4 children she shares with
their son who lives overseas.
Lewis and the children now occupy the second floor of
Willocks’ house.
“We are scared right now because some more break off yesterday.
It’s like a little piece keeps breaking off as the days go by. It’s definitely
not safe because that tells us that more is gonna happen,” admitted Lewis.
It is unclear what caused the rock and wall to collapse, but
Willocks and Lewis believe that it may have been due to tampering of the rock.
Councillor Charles Sinclair visited the scene of the
incident along with National Works Agency (NWA) personnel whom he tasked with
developing a plan and cost to the solution.
“The matter is technically a government matter because it
touches upon the lives of individuals. Damage I saw is dangerous and very
costly because of the danger people are exposed to,” said the government
senator.
Sinclair assured that he will endeavour to secure funding to
rectify the situation. “I will try advocacy to see how they can be rendered
assistance through public sources to alleviate the danger that exists,” he
said. “I am anticipating a report from the superintendent,” he added.
