Uchence Gang Trial
Uchence Gang Trial | Cronies bathe in stolen cash
Published:Saturday | March 9, 2019 | 12:00 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
Having already given testimony on about at least seven other robberies that took place across several parishes, a Crown witness yesterday said that he received a total of $120,000 in Jamaican and foreign currency as a result of a heist that the Uchence Wilson gang carried out against a prominent person in St Ann.
The witness, who is a former member of the gang, told the court that he was not present on the night of the robbery, but he was aware of the plan.
He was testifying from an undisclosed location via video call at the trial for Wilson and his 23 alleged gang members at the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.
The former gang member said that a week before the incident, reputed gang leader Uchence Wilson and other accused gang members, Fitzroy Scott and Devin Taylor, travelled to the town, where they carried out an assessment of the wholesale business that the person they planned to rob was believed to have owned.
On the day the robbery was supposed to happen, the witness said that he, along with the accused, Wilson, Scott, Taylor, Stephenson ‘Slim’ Bennett, Michael ‘Judge’ Lamont, Keron ‘Tall Man’ Walters, Kenith ‘Blacks’ Wynter, Machel Goulbourne, and men known only as B13, Juice and Jason, travelled to the small town, and when they arrived, hid in bushes close to the wholesale business.
The witness quoted Wilson as saying that “a no ordinary robbery”, so he needed all his gang members present.
He said the men concealed themselves in bushes close to the shop and observed the area for three hours. However, Wilson aborted the mission, saying that they needed more ammunition.
The witness said they subsequently made their way back home.
The following day, he said he got a call from Scott that the robbery would take place that night but said he could not join them because he had plans to take his girlfriend out for dinner.
The day after, the witness said he was alerted by the tooting of a horn at the gate of his then Kingston 6 residence.
When he opened the gate, he said Scott entered driving a relative’s car.
The witness said that he then entered the vehicle where he saw Jamaican, Canadian, and British currency all over the floor.
He quoted Scott as saying: “You shoulda come, last night. You woulda make millions.”
The witness said that at the time, Scott gave him $80,000 and promised to buy him a bike. On another occasion, an additional $40,000 was on offer. The witness also testified that they executed a robbery in another town in St Ann, where he was told to keep watch over the cemetery.