By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Relatives of Christopher Grant console his aunt, Veneta Robinson, shortly after she received news in March 2001 that her nephew was killed during an alleged shoot-out with the police in Braeton, St. Catherine. - File
SIX POLICEMEN are to be charged with the March 2001 controversial killing of seven young men in Braeton, St. Catherine, Kent Pantry Q.C., the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), has ruled.
Lucius Thomas, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime, has since instructed Acting Assistant Commissioner Granville Gause, head of the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI), to carry out the instructions of the DPP. "I am now doing the paper work," Gause told The Gleaner yesterday.
Further reports are that none of the senior officers involved in the operation on the morning of March 14, 2001, will be charged. Only rank and file policemen have been ruled charged. The list includes two corporals, one sergeant and three constables.
Sergeant David White, Chairman of the Police Federation, yesterday said that the Federation would be throwing its full support behind the six men. He said the Federation was "committed to providing its members with legal assistance." His comments followed an emergency meeting with Police Commissioner Francis Forbes.
BAD REFLECTION
Responding to questions about the number of police personnel charged by the DPP over the past three months, the Federation chairman said it was a concern, noting that it did not reflect well on the Police Force. At least four other policemen have been ruled charged by the DPP since May of this year.
The latest ruling was made following a nine-month inquest into what became known as the Braeton Seven case. That inquest ended in October 2002. At the end of the inquest, the jurors were split by a six to four decision, meaning no one was held criminally responsible for the deaths of the seven young men.
The DPP was then charged with the responsibility of reviewing the depositions with a view to determine whether anyone should be charged with the deaths of Christopher Grant, Tamayo Wilson, Andre Virgo, Dane Whyte, Lancebert Clarke, Curtis Smith and Reagon Beckford. They were shot dead at 1088 Fifth Seal Way, Braeton Phase 3, more than two years ago.
The men were killed in a reported exchange of gunfire with members of the now defunct Crime Management Unit (CMU), led by Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams.
The police have held that they went to Fifth Seal Way to apprehend Christopher Grant, who was a suspect in the March 1, 2001 fatal shootings at the Above Rocks Police Station, St. Andrew.
During that incident, a gunman, alleged to have been Grant, killed retired customs officer Dennis Betton and Constable Dwight Gibson, 39, and wounded a woman. The police said when they went to Braeton to arrest Grant, the occupants of the house fired shots at them. The police said they fired back, killing the seven.
The Police said some of the seven were also implicated in the murder of Keith Morris, the principal of Hartlands All-Age School in south west St. Catherine. He was shot dead during a robbery at a bar in the community.
