Clansman Gang Trial | Judge to dismiss firearm evidence due to shabby police handling

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes this morning signalled his intent to dismiss the firearm evidence in relation to a gun that an ex-gangster helped the police to recover due to the shabby handling of the weapon by investigators.

One of the prosecution's main witnesses, an ex-member of the Clansman-One Don gang, had testified that he had tricked reputed leader Andre 'Blackman' Bryan into giving him the rifle.

He testified that he told Bryan that he was going to take it to be repaired but instead met two police investigators in Portmore, St Catherine and handed over the firearm.

The ex-gangster had reportedly collected the weapon from defendant Roel Taylor.

The court heard that the two detective sergeants then took the gun to the Caymanas Police Station in Portmore, St Catherine for safekeeping before it was transported to the laboratory the next day.

But, when the evidence box with the gun was presented to the court, the label indicated that the weapon was retrieved at Port Royal Street in Kingston.

The ballistic officer who had collected the weapon at the laboratory had indicated that he was told by one of the investigators that was where the gun was handed over.

Consequently, during the prosecution's response to the no-case submission for Taylor, Sykes criticised the way in which the gun was handled and blamed the two senior officers for their handling of the weapon.

The judge questioned why the officers had stopped at the station, while noting that no reasonable explanation has been advanced as to their reasons.

He also questioned why both went to the station but had failed to properly label the weapon, which had no description, instead of leaving it up to an unknown station guard.

While recalling the evidence of the lead detective that he had not placed any identifying mark on the weapon or had noted any unique marking, the judge said he cannot accept with any great degree of certainty that it was the same weapon that the witness had handed over.

Furthermore, Sykes noted that no record was available from the police station to confirm that the two officers had attended on the station with the rifle.

The judge who also took into consideration that the two officers were not rookies charged that no attention was placed on the details or on doing what they were trained to do.

As result, he told the prosecutor, "Let me put you out of your misery, the evidence is not good enough."

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