St Catherine JP acquitted of corruption charges

A St Catherine-based Justice of the Peace (JP) was freed of a corruption charge in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court last Thursday.

He is Roy Stevenson, 57, of St John’s Road in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

Stevenson appeared before Resident Magistrate Tara Reid-Carr, where it was revealed by the clerk of courts that the main witness had gone missing, and the matter was proposed for postponement.

But Stevenson’s attorney told the court that a priority date had been set for the trial, and if there was no trial, the case should be dismissed.

He added that personnel from the Ministry of Justice kept coming to court, and must be frustrated with the system.

Reid-Carr asked the clerk of court what action should be taken, and it was agreed that the matter should be dismissed.

Stevenson was then freed of the charge.

His appearances in court arose from a March 2014 matter in which a St Catherine woman was charged with fraud after her name and photograph appeared on forged documents which she used in court as surety to bail a man charged with rape. The accused failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for the arrest of the surety.

When bailiffs held her and compared the name and photograph that were attached to documents, it was discovered that all was not well. A further probe revealed that all the documents, including the land title that was used, were in the name of a woman who had died in 2011.

Investigations led to the arrest of Stevenson, who had signed and stamped the documents for bail.

He was charged with making a false declaration, and was on $3 million.