Loophole allowing accused scammers to walk free – Sykes

WESTERN BUREAU:

Many of the persons arrested and charged for possession of identity information, a feature linked to lottery scamming, are benefiting from a loophole in the judicial system which is allowing them to walk free without the case against them being properly adjudicated.

During the ongoing Michaelmas term of the Trelawny Circuit Court, some 53 of the 66 cases related to the possession of identity information, which were scheduled for trial, had to be thrown out because the reports pertinent to the cases were not provided promptly by the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Unit (CFCU).

In explaining the situation to Chief Justice Bryan Sykes who is presiding over the circuit court sitting, Claudette Thompson, from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the failure to get reports, some from as far back as 2017, is preventing the Crown from going ahead with prosecutions.

In the recent high-profile case involving Javan Garwood, who was implicated in the murder of his stepmother, Andrea Lowe-Garwood, the case against him broke down because evidence pertinent to the case, which should have come out of the CFCU, was deemed to have either been deleted or scrambled.

In an interview with the chief justice following Thompson’s submission before the court, he said his job is to follow the law.

“That is a problem which the Ministry of Justice has to handle. My job is to treat each case according to guidelines set out in law,” explained Sykes.

He, however, painted a grim picture of how persons involved in the possession of identity information, which he described as economic crimes, are beating the system, and getting away with it.

“These people involved in these activities have calculated that the risk they face when caught is not enough to cause them to think twice about being involved,” said Sykes. “They calculate their gross, they work out the fines and get Government to pay their legal fees through legal aid and they continue once the case is over.”

However, Sykes made it clear that those who come before him and are found guilty will not get be getting the so-called slap on the wrist punishment as they will face hefty fines.

“These economic criminals are not stupid. They say to themselves, I can pay the $200,000 fines and be out on the street to continue. Well, I have decided that the fines they face in my court shall be hefty,” Sykes warned.

During the ongoing sitting of the Trelawny Circuit Court, a young man who was found guilty of possession of identity information, was fined $800,000 or two years in prison.

“That kind of sentence will make others think twice about taking the risk of being a lotto scammer,” Sykes said.