‘I TRIED TO KILL MYSELF’

Less than a month before the September 2021 start of what was touted as the largest gang trial in the English-speaking Caribbean, one of the prosecution’s star witnesses had bought his ticket to Jamaica and was ready to abandon the case.

Troubled with depression, loneliness, and a perceived lack of empathy from state security handlers, the self-proclaimed former top-tier gangster had given up on life.

The ex-gangster, who had reached out to The Gleaner over a four-month period in 2021, was adamant that he was willing to exit the witness protection programme and return to the island.

“I know what I am up against and make up mi mind fi anything. I know I won’t last a month, but it is what it is,” he said.

The witness, whose identity is under a publication ban, further shared that he had twice attempted suicide.

His last attempt, according to him, was made a week before his birthday in October 2020 while he was under the protection programme with his then pre-teen son.

“I get to a point that I was so depressed that I tried to kill myself. I cut my wrist and mash up everything inna the house,” he said, adding that his son once summoned the police to take him to hospital after a suicidal episode.

“Mi can’t sleep at night. Mi just worried. Mi have nightmares and dem ting deh. Every night, mi dream mi a get shot or somebody a try kill me or something.”

The witness, who was one of two self-confessed gang members for the prosecution, had testified during the trial that he was forced into the criminal organisation by its leader, Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, and was told that the only way out was prison or the graveyard.

Bryan and 14 cronies have been convicted of various crimes, including gang membership, murder, and firearm breaches. Twelve defendants were acquitted while cases against five others were discontinued. One defendant was murdered while on bail.

TRAUMATISED

The ex-gangster, who said he was a driver and Bryan’s confidant, also testified that he had been traumatised by his induction into the crime syndicate.

Additionally, he said that he believed he would have been killed when the trial was completed.

In the mid-2021 Gleaner interview, the ex-gangster was extremely concerned that the educational needs of his son were reportedly not being met, despite persistent efforts by him to have the matter addressed.

The man joined the witness protection programme in September 2018 with his wife, his girlfriend, a babymother, aunt, son, and cousins. Up to August 2021, he lamented that his son had only attended school for one term since 2019.

The ex-gangster revealed that the then pre-teen had attended school after the Easter holiday while he was at the first location.

However, he said that, soon after, he was informed about a pending relocation and was told that his son would not be enrolled in school as they would only be staying a month at the new safe house.

But the ex-gangster said that what was supposed to be a brief stay dragged on for 13 months, with his son remaining outside the formal school system in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If you deh Jamaica and nuh send you child a school, dem lock you up. Yet still, they are the Government and my son not going to school. So how dem treat that situation?” he asked.

The witness also criticised the protection programme coordinators for allegedly going back on an agreement to have him enrolled in an electrical technician course. He also claimed that organisers did not honour the requested amount for monthly allowance, but he acknowledged that his grocery needs were met.

“They said they would not give me what I used to earn, but they would try to go as close as possible. I was basically on my own,” he said, insisting that his contact had for a time refused to respond to calls or text messages.

“Mi just feel alone inna the situation, and because me just inna house lock up and not doing anything and mi have to go through the same situation over and over every day,” he said.

LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang said late Wednesday that he empathised with the gang witness, who was unnerved by his isolation.

Safeguarding that witness presented a logistical nightmare for state authorities as they sought to manage his security while managing his distress.

“He was out there for several years. He had lost his identity. ... He just got tired of moving,” Chang said hours after the final verdicts were delivered earlier this week.

As pressure grew closer to the commencement of the trial, the gang witness harboured regrets, saying, “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”

But he lauded police personnel attached to the Counter Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigations Branch for treating him fairly and ensuring his safety.

The witness, who on the urgings of national security officials eventually changed his mind about pulling out of the trial, found new determination to out his one-time cronies.

He said that, even before the trial had commenced, gang members discovered that he was set to testify against them.

The witness revealed that, before he enrolled in the state protection programme, he refused alleged efforts by Bryan to pay him off for his silence.

The witness told The Gleaner that he was threatened multiple times that he and his family members would be killed.

“This man, if him put you on a list, him nah take you off. Even if you run off and change your life, him a go kill you when him find you. Him say nobody go on him list and come off unless dem dead, and him tell me I am on top of his list,” he said in the pretrial interview.

The witness said Bryan, in his last alleged threat to him in April 2021, hinted at consequences for his family.

“But, as mi say, mi nuh do this fi miself. Mi do this fi mi community, Spanish Town, and Jamaica, ‘cause it’s not like say him crime stop at Spanish Town. ... And when it comes to link, him have not only in Jamaica but in the Caribbean,” the witness said.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com