JDF’s May 2010 logbook for guns and ammunition missing

Records pertaining to the distribution of guns and ammunition at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), for May 2010, cannot be located.

The police are also having difficulty locating the former JDF soldier who was the recordkeeper during the same period during which St Andrew businessman Keith Clarke was shot and killed.

Captain Kevin White, second in command at the Special Activities Regiment Unit, made the disclosure regarding the missing log books, while Superintendent of Police Eglon Samuels revealed, during his testimony in the ongoing trial in the Home Circuit Court, that efforts to locate the then recordkeeper have been unsuccessful.

The 64 year-old accountant was shot 25 times inside his master bedroom at his Kirkland Close, St Andrew home on May 27, 2010, during a police-military operation to apprehend then-fugitive drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

Lance corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley and Private Arnold Henry are on trial for Clarke’s murder.

Last Wednesday, lead prosecutor Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Taylor, King’s Counsel (KC), was granted permission by the court to subpoena Vice Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman, chief of defence staff, as well as the log books for guns and ammunition in May 2010 and its keeper, as witnesses for the Crown.

White, during his evidence-in-chief, disclosed that he had been able to locate a series of dispatch books for the period from early 2004 to early 2010 but was unsuccessful in finding those for May 2010. He said a total of seven books were found which also covered the period 2016-2020.

However, the witness was unable to recall the specific months for 2010.

“Were you given an explanation as to why the documents you are looking for relating to the particular month of May cannot be found?” Taylor then asked.

Defence counsel Peter Champagnie, KC, however, quickly objected to the question, noting that it would run the risk of being hearsay, but was overruled after Taylor said he was not asking for the explanation and only wanted to ascertain if a reason was provided.

The captain then replied, “No, sir. I wasn’t.”

ONE-WEEK SERACH

Continuing his evidence, the witness testified that he conducted a one-man search of several areas, including the ammunition bunker, the registry, and the quartermaster’s store, where all logbooks for daily administration, excess equipment, and stationeries are kept.

The witness also shared that he had searched six 40-foot containers without luck for the logbooks.

“Now, if you don’t mind me asking, I’ve heard about the efficiency of the army. How long did it take you to search these 40-foot containers?” Taylor probed further.

“About a week,” the witness replied.

White, who is the record administrator, when pressed about whether the army had an archive for the records, was unable to answer or say for how long the records are kept, noting that that would be a policy decision.

He was also unable to say whether the JDF has a policy in relation to the records if enquiries or investigations are being done and the records can be of assistance.

He stated, however, that the records of ammunition and weapons are also kept at his division, for accountability purposes.

“Whenever a transaction occurs where a person is issued a weapon or a set of ammunition, it is logged. After that weapon and ammunition are returned and booked in, the transaction is really finished until the next transaction,” he said.

The captain, during cross-examination from Champagnie, said he was only tasked with the search and that he was never asked to conduct such a search before.

Meanwhile, Samuels, who is attached to the Marine Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, testified that, on October 14, he contacted the commander for St Thomas to help locate a witness and, after learning that efforts were unsuccessful, requested the help of the police force’s communication’s arm to broadcast via the media the search for the witness.

He said he further acted on information regarding a possible location of the witness along a roadway but did not find the witness and left word for him to contact him.

The police witness however admitted under cross-examination from Champagnie and attorney Linton Gordon that the search for the witness lasted only one day.

He further told Champagnie that he did not make any effort to contact the witness’ relatives and that he was made aware during his search that the man left the island in July.

The trial will continue today.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com