Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

A man who was shot in the right leg by a policeman when he fatally shot a man with whom the policeman was talking on February 3, 2004, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

He is 23-year-old David Lyons, also called 'British', of Zion Lane, Central Village St. Catherine.

Lyons' right leg was amputated because of the gunshot injury.

Mrs. Justice Carol Beswick, in passing sentence last week in the Home Circuit Court, ordered that Lyons must serve 20 years before he can be eligible for parole.

Lyons was convicted of the murder of 35-year-old Gerald Scott, of Central Village.

The Crown, represented by prosecutors Lisa Palmer, Maxine Jackson and Pearnel Charles, Jr., led evidence that, about 5:30 p.m., Scott and a policeman were talking in Central Village. Lyons fired shots at Scott, who ran.

The policemen testified that he knew Lyons before and he called to him to stop but he continued firing at Scott. The policeman said he fired at Lyons, who was later taken to the Spanish Town hospitalsuffering from a gunshot wound to his right leg.

Lyons, who was represented by attorney-at-law Lloyd McFarlane, denied shooting at Scott. He said he was in a cookshop in Central Village when he was shot in his right leg.

The jury retired for 33 minutes before returning the guilty verdict.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com