Media barred from court ahead of Manchester municipality fraud trial verdict

Tamara Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Members of the media were barred from entering court this morning ahead of the handing down of the verdict in the Manchester Municipal Corporation multimillion-dollar fraud case.

When media workers arrived, a court representative informed that three courtrooms were retrofitted for live audio streaming and that two of them had already reached the 10-person limit.

The representative indicated that the live stream was put in place to avoid crowding and to maintain social distancing.

And media workers were told that they could not be accommodated in the third courtroom.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Lloyd Darby later indicated that he had been instructed that the verdict is being held in-camera and that only the state-run Jamaica Information Service would be allowed inside, as the agency was tasked with providing the audio stream.

Darby said he was only relaying information when The Gleaner questioned how the verdict hearing could be deemed in-camera when the trial was conducted over months in open court and that the court’s decision is being delivered through a free audio scream that is accessible to the public.

The stream is under way.

The fate of the seven accused in the fraud saga will be determined by senior parish judge Ann-marie Grainger.

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