Uchence Wilson Gang Trial | Prosecutors use phone data to advance case against alleged gangsters
Published:Saturday | July 6, 2019 | 12:00 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
Prosecutors have zeroed in on cellular data acquired from the island’s two main telecommunications companies and mobile phones seized from alleged gang members to further advance the position that reputed gang leader Uchence Wilson and his alleged 20 cronies have a case to answer.
The cellular data relates to numbers attributed to some of the alleged gang members and was entered into evidence during the trial, which began in early March.
The assistant director of public prosecutions, who was yesterday making the submission in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston, said no phone was recovered in relation to a number attributed to accused Tashina Baker.
However, based on messages sent from the phone of accused Fitzroy Scott to the number attributed to Baker, who is believed to have been his girlfriend at the time of their arrest in 2017, the prosecutor insisted that the only reasonable inference is that the phone number belonged to her.
But presiding judge Chief Justice Bryan Sykes said that with the absence of subscriber information and other information, there is nothing that ties Baker to the mobile number.
However, the prosecutor insisted that based on the context of the messages, it is clear that the number belonged to Baker.
In relation to accused Fitzroy Scott, the assistant DPP said that there are two numbers attributed to him, one of which was obtained from car rental documents.
The other was attributed to Scott by way of communication between him and another alleged gang member, where he used an alias.
According to the prosecutor, Scott used the same alias when corresponding with a detective corporal, with whom he eventually had a face-to-face meeting.
Wilson and his remaining 20 alleged cronies are being tried for various breaches of the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act 2014, commonly known as the anti-gang legislation, for crimes allegedly committed between 2015 and 2017.
They are also on trial for breaches of the Firearms Act.
Three accused have so far been freed. The prosecution will continue responding to no-case submissions on Monday.