Police constable and ex-cops accused of using fake documents to solicit money from woman granted bail

A policeman and three ex-cops, accused of using a fake drug case to solicit money from a Trelawny woman, were granted $2 million bail each.

The defendants who were charged on Tuesday with facilitating the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation, forgery, uttering forged documents and perverting the course of justice were offered bail by Justice Leighton Pusey in the Home Circuit Court.

Ex-detective James Dawes, Tamela Anderson, Shane Givans and Constable Lakarie Barrett, who were all attached to the Jamaica Constabulary Force Firearms & Narcotics Investigation Division, were offered bail on the condition that they are not to be seen in the parish.

All except for Lakarie have since resigned from the force.

They were also ordered to report to the police three time per week

They must also surrender their travel documents with a stop order at all ports.

The defendants, who were offered bail following a bail application by attorney-at-law Chadwick Berry, are to return to court on May 21. Attorney-at-law Christopher Townsend is also representing the defendants.

According to allegations, in 2023, the four officers approached the complaint with a document claiming that she was suspected of drug trafficking and she was taken into custody and detained.

Shortly afterward, the complainant's mother alleged she received a call from a policeman who stated that her daughter would be released if money was paid.

The complainant was later released without being charged.

It is being alleged that the document presented to the woman regarding the drug trafficking case was fake.

A subsequent complaint was made to the police's Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau, which launched an investigation.

It was reportedly discovered that the four accused had prepared the forged document used to release the woman from custody.

- Tanesha Mundle

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