Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

The Hilary session of the Home Circuit Court opened yesterday with Miss Justice Jennifer Straw calling on the Government to ensure that the courts have the resources to try cases in a timely manner.

She also lashed out against the large number of murder and sexual offence cases and said the level of violence in the country was unacceptable.

"Greater resources must be poured in for equipment and training," the judge said as she referred to the problems at the Government Forensic Laboratory. She said there was a problem at the laboratory in relation to testing and emphasised that such problems would impact on the court's ability to try cases expeditiously.

There are 258 cases scheduled for trial this term, of which 118 are murder cases and 59 are sexual offence cases. The previous term had 248 cases and 74 of them were disposed of.

A 'scourge' on the society

Justice Straw noted that, for this term, the new cases comprised of 22 murder cases and 30 sexual offence cases. She described those cases as a "scourge" on the society.

In making an impassioned plea for all law-abiding citizens to assist in the fight against crime, the judge said it was not only the arms of government which had the responsibility to curb crime. She said individuals, the churches, communities and groups should play their part and should not keep silent. She warned that if they kept silent then the level of crime would continue to increase.

Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn, described the court list as a formidable one. She also called on the citizens to play their part in assisting to reduce crime. She referred to an incident downtown Kingston last Thursday, in which a policeman was shot close to the Supreme Court building, and said the police and the citizens should not cower in the face of "these cowardly attacks by those who are bent on perpetrating crimes against (them)."

Howard Hamilton, Q.C., pledged support on behalf of the private bar to have the cases disposed of expeditiously. He referred to the "indifference" which some people had towards crime. He said crime had now reached the stage where the police were under siege. He advised the public that it was not only the duty of the police to fight crime but everybody had the responsibility to help in the fight.