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Inspector charged with double murder, bail set at $1m

Published:Friday | August 23, 2019 | 12:00 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter

A police sergeant is the latest member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to be dragged before the court on murder charges following a ruling by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The policeman, Inspector Howard Wilks, was on Wednesday offered bail in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in the sum of $1 million with sureties and is to report four times per week to a police station.

Information reaching The Gleaner is that Wilks was charged on Wednesday by the Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau (IPROB) with two counts of murder, following a near decade-long investigation by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).

Wilks was charged in relation to the shooting deaths of Shemar Whitely and Denzil Hutchinson on October 13, 2010. The men were killed during an operation in the Kingston 10 area.

The police reportedly said that the men were shot during a gun battle along Roberts Close, and an illegal gun was seized while they were on an operation, searching for wanted men and illegal weapons.

Residents had staunchly refuted the police’s version of what transpired.

Wilks is to return to court on October 7.

Last Wednesday, six policemen were charged with the murders, of three men, arising from an incident more than six years ago.

Charged are Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose, and Richard Lynch.

They were charged by the police’s IPROB following an investigation by INDECOM and a ruling by the ODPP.

Corporal Fullerton was further charged with making a false statement to INDECOM.

The cops are accused of the shooting deaths of Matthew Lee, Mark Allen, and Ucliffe Dyer along Arcadia Drive in St Andrew on January 12, 2013, under questionable circumstances.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com