One Don Gang known for murders and extortion, witness testifies

A witness this morning testified in the Home Circuit Court that the One Don Gang, a faction of the feared St Catherine-based Clansman Gang, is known for killing people and collecting extortion money in the parish.

The witness stated that he was aware of the dealings as he was the personal driver of the reputed leader of the gang Andre 'Blackman' Bryan and that he acted as the gang's bank.

"Dem kill and murder people and was responsible for couple communities in Spanish Town," he said when asked by the prosecutor how he knew that the group was operating as a gang.

The witness, who is testifying via videolink, described Bryan as a feared leader of the gang whose commands were carried out without question or hesitation.

According to the witness, he met Bryan in 2016 through another member who is now deceased and shortly after became his driver.

When asked how he came to be the driver having met Bryan only twice before, he said, "I learn that he was Andre 'Blackman' Bryan and you don't refuse a gangster."

The witness, who testified that he transported Bryan daily and that the alleged leader would often sleep at his house, said Bryan would give his instructions by phone or from a recording studio in Spanish Town that is being constructed by Bryan.

Extortion collection 

The witness also told the court that it was his duty to keep the gang's money and that he would collect sums from a man at the Spanish Town Bus Park from Monday to Saturday.

"That's my everyday job, to pick up every single day, if not [in the] day [then in the] night. Only Sunday I didn't go," he testified.

According to him, he collected between $80,000 and $100,000.

Byran and 32 others are being tried on an indictment with 25 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act, to which they have pleaded not guilty.

Among other things, they are charged with being part of a criminal organisation, illegal possession of firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, facilitating conspiracy to murder and facilitating arson.

The prosecution is alleging that the One Don Gang carried out a range of murders, conspiracies to murder, extortion, and arson throughout St Catherine between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2019

The One Don Gang was reportedly established following a split of the Clansman Gang amid an internal power struggle between reputed leader of the Clansman, Tesha Miller, and Bryan, who allegedly was the top lieutenant of Miller.

- Tanesha Mundle

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