Neighbour says request to delete CCTV footage didn’t feel right

A neighbour of Constable Noel Maitland testified on Thursday that he felt pressured by the visibly anxious officer to delete surveillance footage showing Maitland entering his St Andrew apartment complex twice between July 11 and 12, 2022 – once with a woman – just hours before his girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, went missing.

“He seemed worried; he seemed to have great consternation,” the witness testified via video link in the Home Circuit Court, where Maitland is on trial for murder and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse in connection with Donaldson’s presumed death.

The witness – an economist who could recall Maitland’s licence plate from memory – said the constable repeatedly asked him to delete the footage. The video showed Maitland entering the apartment with a woman on the night of July 11 and leaving alone on the afternoon of July 12.

The woman, he said, was light-skinned, slim, with long black hair that appeared to be a weave. When asked if he recognised her, the witness said she resembled someone he had seen before but could not confirm if it was the same person.

According to the testimony, Maitland contacted the witness on July 13 then appeared at his apartment the following day, saying that “a girl who had been at his apartment had gone missing”. The witness, who was in a meeting at the time, said he responded via text, but Maitland remained at his door for about 15 minutes.

INAPPROPRIATE REQUEST

He said that initially, Maitland claimed that he was undergoing a promotion evaluation and that his workplace would be conducting background checks. He expressed concern that he did not want anything “problematic” to be seen such as footage showing him smoking a spliff. The witness, however, said he felt that the request was inappropriate and refused to comply.

Donaldson, 24, a social media personality, swimwear entrepreneur, and customer service representative, was reported missing on July 13. . Her mother, Sophia Lugg, had previously testified that Maitland picked up her daughter on July 11 and that she last spoke to her on the morning of July 12. Attempts to reach her afterwards were unsuccessful.

The witness stated that during Maitland’s visit, they reviewed footage from five security cameras – two at the back, one on the side, and two at the front. However, three were not operational – specifically those that would have captured activity in the stairwell and passageway.

From the working cameras, they observed Maitland leaving the complex alone on the afternoon of July 12. Once again, Maitland asked the witness to delete the footage, but the witness refused.

“He asked me at least twice,” he said, adding that the footage only showed the driver’s side of Maitland’s vehicle, not the passenger side.

Asked why he didn’t comply, the witness said he felt it was “inappropriate to delete the footage”.

He also noted that although Maitland said he did not want the witness to feel pressured, he did feel pressure from the interaction.

The witness told Maitland that he would consult the technician who had installed the cameras. That evening, between 7 and 8 p.m., the technician visited, and Maitland returned to review the footage from the night of July 11 into the early hours of July 12.

While reviewing the recordings, the witness said he saw Maitland’s “grayish” BMW enter the complex parking lot. Both Maitland and a woman were seen exiting the vehicle. Maitland again asked for the footage to be deleted, and again, the request was refused. The technician eventually left but offered to return another time.

The witness explained that he had installed the cameras after suspecting a break-in attempt at his apartment. While he had encouraged other residents to install similar systems, he said no one else had done so. However, he confirmed that a security camera was positioned at the complex’s gate.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday, with the witness continuing his testimony.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com