Babymother denies Allen, friends were gunmen, gangsters

The mother of Mark Allen’s daughter yesterday firmly denied that he and one of his friends, who were killed alongside him in January 2013, were gunmen, rejecting defence suggestions that they were part of a criminal network operating out of Grants Pen in St Andrew.

The woman was testifying in the Home Circuit Court in the trial of six policemen charged in connection with the January 12, 2013, fatal shooting of Allen, Matthew Lee and Eucliffe Dyer during a police operation along Acadia Road in St Andrew.

During cross-examination, defence attorney Hugh Wildman suggested that Grants Pen was “infested with gunmen” and notorious for criminal activity.

“I never saw any gunman, sir,” the witness responded.

Wildman further put it to her that Dyer, who she admitted was also known by the alias ‘Gawpa’, was a don in the community.

“Not that I know of,” she replied.

When it was suggested that Allen, who she acknowledged went by the nickname ‘Ratty’, was part of a syndicate in Grants Pen alongside Dyer, she answered firmly, “No, sir.”

She agreed that Allen, Dyer and Lee were friends and that they frequented the Grants Pen area. She also accepted that Lee, whom she had known for about a year while living in Stony Hill with Allen in 2004, would visit the community. However, she maintained that she was unaware of any criminal conduct.

EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE

Earlier in her evidence-in-chief, the woman described how emotional it had been for her to identify Allen’s body at the Kingston Public Hospital morgue on January 21, 2013, when she attended the post-mortem examination.

“I started to cry, and I fell on my knees,” she told the court.

She said she saw his body in the room where the examination was being conducted and confirmed that she identified him there.

Allen, she testified, was the father of her daughter, now 20 years old. Although their nine-year relationship ended in 2006, she said they maintained a good relationship afterwards.

She described him as “a good person in general” and “loving”, and told the court he worked as a caddy at the Constant Spring Golf Course before later becoming involved in music.

Asked whether he had any matters before the court, she responded, “Not that I know of, Miss.”

She said Allen was a devoted father who visited their daughter almost every day, ensured she had lunch money and assisted her with homework.

“He was a good father,” she maintained.

The six policemen on trial are Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, and constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose, and Richard Lynch.

The trial is scheduled to resume next Wednesday.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com