Poor police investigations freed St Thomas man

The Court of Appeal has called for police investigators to be properly supervised and guided.



The court made the comments when it freed a St Thomas man who was charged with burglary, rape and illegal possession of a firearm because of poor police investigations.



The court pointed out that although there were allegations that Albert Edmonson, of Mount Lebanus district in St Thomas had removed louvre blades from a dwelling house and replaced them, the windows were not dusted for fingerprints.



Edmondson\'s convictions were dismissed and his 20 year prison sentence set aside following submissions made by defence lawyer Jack Hines.



The court said it was not ordering a retrial because of the obvious shortcoming in the police investigations specifically in the area of the fingerprints.



Edmondson was convicted on March 10, 2005 of the offences which allegedly took place on the night of September 23, 2003.



The complainant had testified at the trial that Edmondson who she knew, entered through a window and raped her at gunpoint.



In his defence Edmondson said the complainant consented, and he also denied interfering with the window blades.



In allowing the appeal the court said the police were obliged to process the louvre blades for fingerprints because that would have been a conclusive way of proving consent as Edmondson had claimed.