PORTLAND, Jamaica – Renowned Dancehall artiste Chi Ching Ching is set to make a court appearance after being charged with violating the terms of his firearms license following a traffic stop in Portland on March 6, 2024.
Portland police reports indicate that the artist, whose real name is Radion Beckford, was halted during a routine traffic enforcement operation on the San San main road in the parish.
During the operation, Beckford disclosed that he had a firearm and ammunition.
According to reports, Beckford was issued a firearms certificate on March 2, 2023, but the license expired on September 19, 2023.
The authorities confiscated the artist’s firearm and charged him with breaching Section 45 of the Firearms Act.
Bike taxi operator third murder victim within 24 hours in Westmoreland.
Tragedy Strikes in Westmoreland
A bike taxi operator met a tragic end in Grange Hill, Westmoreland, becoming the third victim of gun violence in the area between Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Ricardo Green, known as ‘Ricky,’ aged 37, was ambushed and fatally shot by unknown assailants while riding his motorcycle on a section of the Geneva main road on Saturday night.
The authorities reported that at approximately 8:00 p.m., residents heard multiple loud explosions as Green was driving his Red Suzuki Access motorcycle, ultimately losing control and crashing on the roadway.
When the police arrived, they discovered Green lying on his back beside his motorcycle, with fatal gunshot wounds to his upper body. Sadly, he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital.
The violence did not stop there, as Anthony Smith, a 49-year-old carpenter from the Geneva community, was also killed in a separate incident just 15 minutes later. Gunmen reportedly shot and killed Smith as he had parked his bike on a section of the Geneva main road.
Tragedy struck yet again, as unknown assailants gunned down 22-year-old Anthony McKenzie, also known as ‘Bad Bad,’ at his house in Crowder, Grange Hill, sometime after 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The police have not ruled out a potential connection between the three shootings, and investigations are ongoing to unravel the circumstances behind these senseless acts of violence.
Police charged former PNP candidate for West St Mary Errol Bascoe charged with buggery.
ST MARY, Jamaica—Authorities in St Mary have officially announced that Errol Bascoe, the former People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for St Mary Western, has been charged with buggery.
Police have disclosed that the charge stems from an alleged incident involving Bascoe and a 23-year-old man from Gayle, St Mary, who had reportedly sought the educator’s assistance in a legal matter.
Bascoe, who serves as the principal of Tacky High School, is currently in custody and is scheduled to appear in court in the near future to address the charge.
On Saturday, March 9, 2024, Bascoe tendered his resignation to the PNP. In his resignation letter, he denounced the allegation against him as “scurrilous and malicious.”
Furthermore, Bascoe expressed his resignation “with great regret and a heavy heart” but chose to step down in light of the issue’s potential impact on the party’s reputation.
Generation 2000 (G2K), the Jamaica Labor Party youth arm, called for Bascoe’s resignation as principal of Tacky High School.
Attorneys Valerie Robertson and Oswestry Senior Smith are representing Bascoe.
Senior Citizen Dies in Tragic House Firebombing in Clarendon.
Tragic Incident in Clarendon, Jamaica—A beloved member of the community has tragically lost his life, and another is left without a home after their four-bedroom house was deliberately set on fire around 2:00 am on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
The victim, Roy Thompson, aged 65, was a well-respected carpenter from Old Road in Toll Gate, Clarendon.
According to the authorities, the perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the section where Roy and his cousin were staying, causing a sudden and devastating fire. Despite their efforts to escape and save some belongings, the situation took a heartbreaking turn when Roy re-entered the burning house, leading to its collapse.
The local police and the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Clarendon Division, responded swiftly to the distress call, but tragically, Roy’s life was already claimed by the fire.
This is a deeply sorrowful and distressing event, and our hearts go out to the family and the community during this difficult time.