Two policemen accused of robbing a man in the New Kingston area of $300,000 were freed yesterday after the man said he did not wish to proceed with the case because he had since become a Christian and had forgiven the policemen.

Corporals Ronald Burke and Lennox Riley who were attached to the Bull Bay Police Station had denied taking any money from the complainant when they were arrested and charged in February last year.

The policemen, represented by Norma Linton, QC, and attorney-at-law Peter Champagnie, had said after they were arrested that while they were in the New Kingston area they received complaints and accosted a man.

The allegations were that on February 27 last year, the complainant who was allegedly doing business at a hotel in Kingston was held by the two policemen and taken to a police station in the Corporate Area. The complainant was allegedly robbed of $300,000 and then taken to Bull Bay.

The complainant allegedly ran into the Bull Bay Police Station where he made a report and the two policemen were subsequently arrested and charged.

When the trial began in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court this week, the complainant, who had earlier said he was a pastor, told the court that he was a chef. He said he did not wish to testify because since the incident, he became a Christian and had forgiven the policemen.

Resident Magistrate Stephanie Jackson Haisley entered a verdict of not guilty, freeing the policemen.