11 YEARS OF PAIN

Durvin Hayles agonised with the family of slain 16-year-old student Vanessa Kirkland even as he reflected on the “suffering and pain” he and his family endured in the 11 years since the controversial killing.

Kirkland, who attended Immaculate Conception High School at the time, was killed in 2012 after a team of cops, including Hayles, Andrewain Smith and Ana-Kay Bailey, opened fire on a motorcar on Norman Lane in St Andrew.

The cops insist that they were greeted with gunfire by men who were inside the car, but one of the occupants has given evidence disputing that account.

The three cops were convicted of manslaughter and each sentenced to 14 years in prison before the country’s second-highest court ruled on Monday that their convictions be quashed and the punishment set aside.

Hayles, a married father of more than one girl, is not sure what he would say to Kirkland’s family to ease their suffering.

“There are no comforting words, to be honest,” he said during an interview with The Gleaner, hours after the ruling by the Court of Appeal. “I have girls and it would not be an easy thing to hear that your child has been lost as a result of crossfire. Try to find strength and solace by seeking the Almighty because that’s basically how I got through this.”

Twice during the interview, Hayles requested: “More than anything else, please indicate in this report that it was unfortunate and that I do express my condolences again after these many years to the mother of Miss Kirkland.”

The cops were freed after a panel of three Court of Appeal judges found that there were at least two “fatal” errors by the judge who presided over their 2019 murder trial in the Home Circuit Court.

Court of Appeal President Justice Patrick Brooks, who delivered the ruling, said the trial judge was obliged to give a direction on both limbs of the good character direction.

The two limbs, he explained, are the credibility and propensity directions.

“She gave a proper propensity direction, but unfortunately, her direction on the credibility issue fell short of the required standard. That error, in this case, was fatal to the convictions as the credibility of the appellants was a critical element of their defence,” Brooks said.

The second “fatal error”, he said, occurred when the trial judge directed jurors that they could consider the offence of manslaughter.

Paula Llewellyn, the country’s top prosecutor, said her office had “no choice but to concede that there were merits in those grounds ... because the judge made a clear error in her direction on good character”.

Peter Champagnie, one of the attorneys who represented the cops, said the ruling vindicated their position from the start that the killing was a “most unfortunate incident”, but they were doing their duty.

The Jamaica Police Federation, which represents cops from the entry-level rank of constable to inspector, said it was humbled by the acquittal and will be “moving expeditiously” to have them reinstated as soon as possible.

“Once we get the acquittal notice, we will be working closely with the High Command to ensure their return to work,” said chairman of the federation, Corporal Rohan James.

“The federation and the rank-and-file membership are elated at the outcome. We will not be daunted, we will continue to serve the people of Jamaica to the best of our abilities and to the oath of office we have taken,” James added.

The cops have been on interdiction without pay since they were arrested and charged.

The hardest part, Hayles recounted, was the moment he heard the jury pronounce him guilty of manslaughter.

The cop said he and his colleagues were first taken to Kingston Central Police lock-up before they spent almost one year in custody between the high-security Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre and the Spanish Town prison.

“Being unable to be there for my wife and family, that was the hardest part.”

He recounted, too, that he was forced to take on “side jobs” to help his family survive as the loss of his regular salary took a toll.

Hearing the ruling, Hayles said he felt like “10,000 pounds of weight” had been removed from his life.

“I don’t feel to scream and I don’t feel to jump. Justice has been served after 11 years of suffering and pain and the banks calling me for monies owed,” he told The Gleaner.

Hayles said there is no doubt in his mind that he wants to continue serving in the police force, declaring that “someone has to stand in the gap for those being pummelled by crime and violence”.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com