KINGSTON, Jamaica – A tribunal in the Home Circuit Court found a police sergeant guilty of raping a 16-year-old schoolgirl when he appeared before the Court on Monday, July 10, 2023.

Convicted Sergeant Christopher Bennett, who worked at the Denham Town Police Station in the Kingston Western Division until his arrest, will learn his fate when the judge hands down his sentence on September 4, 2023.

The prosecution accused Sergeant Bennett of abducting and raping a 16-year-old female student on June 17, 2019, along the Palisadoes main road in East Kingston.

However, the Court discharged the abduction charges after the defense attorney’s no-case submissions. The trial concluded last month.

According to court documents, the cop offered the complainant a ride home from the police station. Instead, he took her to the Palisadoes main road, where he had sex with her against her will.

The child later reported the matter to the police, and following investigations, the police arrested and charged Sergeant Bennett. 

Heartless thugs gunned down a 59-year-old St James shopkeeper.

The Montego Bay police are probing the fatal shooting of a St James shopkeeper on Sunday, July 9, 2023,

in Cedar Hill, Somerton, St James.

The police identified the deceased as Veral Phylinar, age 59, late shopkeeper of Cedar Hill, Somerton.

The police reported that at about 7:00 am, residents of the Cedar Hill Community heard loud explosions and alerted the cops.

During a search of the area, the police team found Phylinar lying face down in blood with gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. 

The law enforcement officers transported Phylinar to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where the authorities pronounced him dead.

The police did suggest a motive for the shooting. The investigation is ongoing.

M16 rifle seized in Spanish Town, man arrested

The police on Sunday, July 9, 2023, arrested a man concerning the seizure of an M16 rifle and ammunition in Johnson Pen, Spanish Town, St Catherine.

According to the police, on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at about 5:00 am, a team of law enforcement officers conducted an operation along St John’s Road and its environs.

During a search at the premises on Johnson Pen Lane, the police found one M16 rifle fitted with a magazine containing five 5.56 rounds of ammunition. 

The police arrested the lone occupant at the premises on suspicion of breaches of the Firearms Act.

The police withheld the man’s name, an auto-body repairman, pending further investigation. And a question-and answer-session in the presence of his attorney.

37 Haitian refugees arrive in Portland by boat.

A boat carrying 37 Haitians, including ten children believed to be under nine years of age, landed on the shores of Boston Beach in Portland on Monday, July 10, 2023. 

The police are staying close to the situation. And according to reports, the Haitians appeared to be in good health but complained that they were hungry. 

As reported by the Star, concerned residents from the Boston community have fed the Haitians while waiting for a medical team’s arrival.