Policeman ready to resume work after decade-old court case collapses

A police constable is ready to get back to work after he was freed of a criminal charge that hung over his head for 10 years, his attorney has said.

Wayne Hamil was acquitted of wounding with intent in the Trelawny Circuit Court last week after prosecutors offered no evidence against him just before the start of his second trial for the same offence.

His attorney Donnovan Collins said prosecutors disclosed in court that two witnesses in the case have died.

He said prosecutors attempted to pursue the trial by having their statements admitted under section 31D of the Evidence Act.

However, the attorney said he “vigorously” opposed the move because “the issue in this case was one of credibility and it would have been unfair, based on the circumstances, for the matter to proceed that way”.

“Hamil has been out of his job for over ten years and he now looks forward to returning to work as at the time that he was charged for the offence he was acting in his capacity as a police officer and was defending himself from attack by the complainant,” Collins said.

The charge stems from the shooting of a taxi operator in Hopewell, Hanover in 2014. A video recording of the incident was circulated on social media.

At the end of his first trial on July 1, 2016, Hamil was found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of $1 million or three years in prison.

But on March 26, 2021 the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial.

The Court of Appeal ruled that apart from passing references to Hamil being “on duty" at the time of the incident, the judge who presided over the trial did not place the required significance on the fact that he was acting in the discharge of his duties when he became embroiled in the altercation and fired his weapon, wounding the complainant.

- Livern Barrett

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