Western Bureau:

One of three employees of the Iberostar Hotel site in St. James, who were charged in connection with a gruesome attack on an exotic dancer at a nightclub in the parish, was granted bail when he made their first appearance before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The accused, Marvin Allen, 32 years old, of Portmore in St. Catherine, who is facing a charge of being an accessory after the fact, was granted bail in the sum of $100,000 with surety. After the court was informed by one of the site contractors that he could return to the site after his release, he was ordered to report to the Coral Gardens Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as a condition of bail.

His two co-accused - 19-year-old Dominican Johnny Vasquez Bernard of Greenwood, St. James, who is charged with attempted murder, and 34-year-old Raymond Gray, also of Portmore and who is also charged with being an accessory after fact - were remanded.

The men were arrested last month after the complainant, who is said to be in serious condition at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, made reports that she was attacked and stabbed 16 times by Vasquez Bernard.

The court heard that, on May 15, the exotic dancer was at the rear of the nightclub where she worked when Vasquez Bernard approached her and touched her on the shoulder. She was allegedly stabbed 16 times in the upper body after she pushed his hand away. He then sped away in a car being driven by Allen. The car is owned by Raymond Gray.

Abandoned vehicle

Vasquez Bernard was held less than two hours later with his clothes allegedly covered with blood. He in turn led the police to Allen and the motor vehicle that had been abandoned in Lilliput.

Gray was apprehended a week later in Portmore and handed over to the Montego Bay Police.