Cop walks free from extortion charge
Published:Thursday | November 27, 2014 | 9:35 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
A St James policeman who was arrested on extortion charges last August, walked free from the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court after the case against him was dismissed at the complainant's request.
Constable Gregory Dixon, who was facing the court on allegations that he had attempted to solicit $15,000 from a man, was freed after presiding magistrate Ann-Marie Granger entered a no-order ruling following the revelation that the complainant did not wish to pursue the case any further.
"The complainant no longer wants to pursue this matter, Your Honour," clerk of the court Yanique Henry told Granger. Henry did not explain why the complainant had a change of heart.
NO-ORDER RULING
The case was briefly stood down to allow the complainant to write a statement concerning his decision. Afterwards, Granger made the no-order ruling, which resulted in Dixon being freed of the charges.
The allegations against Dixon were that on August 3, 2013, he attempted to solicit $15,000 from the male complainant who had just exited a remittance agency in Montego Bay. When the demand was not met, Dixon reportedly threatened to take the man into custody.
It was further alleged that a sum of $10,000 was subsequently paid over to Dixon, following which the incident was reported to the Anti-Corruption Branch. Following investigations, a file was submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a ruling. Dixon was then arrested and charged with extortion.