Shrewsbury cops get March court date

WESTERN BUREAU:

The case against Constables Kenroy Hines and Damane Campbell, the two policemen charged with murder in relation to the 2013 shooting deaths of three family members in Shrewsbury, Westmoreland, has been re-scheduled for March 8.

Hines and Campbell, who are charged in connection with the deaths of brothers Andrew and Triston Brydson and their cousin Kingsley Green, were given the new date by High Court Justice Leighton Pusey when they appeared in the Trelawny Circuit Court on Monday. They also had their bails extended

Errol Chattoo, director of complaints in the Independent Commission of Investigations' western regional office, told The Gleaner that the matter was put off in order for case management to be done by the defendants' attorneys, Valerie Neita-Robinson and Peter Champagnie, and the prosecution.

"The matter was set for a case management conference. In case management, the lawyers will sit down and look at the issues, at any evidence they can agree on, and whatever they don't agree on, they will take oral evidence on those things (during the trial)," Chattoo explained.

The Brydson brothers and Green were killed on March 15, 2013, in Shrewsbury, Westmoreland, by a police team, which claimed the men had engaged them in a shoot-out.

However, the police's account of the incident was refuted by residents and relatives of the men, who staged several days of fiery protest, which spanned three parishes, while demanding justice.

The case's progression to trial has been hit with several obstacles dating as far back as March 7, 2014, including the frequent absence of the defendants' lawyers despite the readiness of the prosecution to proceed with the case.