Police constable, ex-corporal freed of murder
Published:Monday | March 8, 2021 | 2:34 PM
A policeman and his ex-colleague, who were charged with murder arising from an incident which took place nine years ago, were today freed after the prosecution conceded that it could not mount a successful case against them.
Freed are Constable Joel Waite and ex-corporal Germaine Parchment.
They were charged following an incident on June 28, 2011, in which 17-year-old Chadwick Clarke was fatally shot during a police operation on Rodney Road, Kingston 13.
The Director of Public Prosecutions ruled in May 2019 that the policemen should be charged.
Parchment, who had resigned from the police force and was living abroad for several years, returned following the ruling.
They maintained that they acted in self-defence and that an illegal firearm was recovered.
When the case came for trial today in the Home Circuit Court, the prosecution said there were significant gaps in the statements of witnesses and that the alleged eyewitness had failed to attend court on several occasions.
Parchment was represented by Queen’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and attorney-at-law Samoi Campbell, while attorney-at-law John Jacobs represented Waite.
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