Uchence Wilson Gang Trial | Family relates terrifying ordeal of being tied up, robbed
Published:Thursday | May 2, 2019 | 12:00 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
An account of how two gangsters held a family at gunpoint, tied them up, and robbed them at their Clarendon home on July 28, 2017, was yesterday related in the trial for reputed gang leader Uchence Wilson and his 23 alleged cronies at the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.
The witness, who operates a shop and bar, said the gunmen stole two firearms belonging to her and her daughter, an unknown amount of cash, shoes, pants, three cell phones, and an iPad.
She said one of the men, described as tall and slim, instructed her to remove shoelaces from pairs of sneakers in her room, which they used to tie up her daughter, her boyfriend, and her.
According to the robbery victim, the men then emptied the drawers in her house where they found kerchiefs, which they used to stuff the mouths of her boyfriend and daughter.
The men, she said, then left the premises.
The businesswoman testified that the robbery took place after she, her daughter, and her boyfriend went home after closing the business that night after 9 p.m.
On returning home, she said she decided to take a shower, but there was no water.
She told the court that she exited the house through the back door and went to turn on the tank and re-entered the house but neglected to close the back door.
After showering, she said she went into her bedroom with her towel wrapped around her, and moments later, she heard a noise on the verandah.
According to the witness, a man she described as tall and slim approached her with his fingers on his lips and pointing a gun at her.
She said her daughter then approached her bedroom and also saw the man.
At this time, the witness said her towel had fallen from around her and she was naked.
Following that, the witness said a second man, described as short, also entered the house and started to question her.
She said this man also hit her boyfriend, who was in the living room on an iPad, and told him, “Go ova deh so, boy!”.
The witness said she was ordered to keep looking down.
She said that the men demanded her gun and money made from the shop, bar, and Cash Pot shop, the latter of which was in an open safe in her bedroom.
She said she acceded to their requests, but her daughter was reluctant to give up her gun.
According to the witness, when they asked her daughter for her gun, she told the gunmen that she did not have it with her.
She said the tall slim man said, “Gyal, gi mi di gun,” after which he used the gun to hit her.
After pleading with her daughter, she said that the gun was handed over to the hoodlums.
Corroborating in brief what was said earlier, the daughter of the previous witness said that the men stole her cell phone and cash in Canadian, United States, and Jamaican currencies.
Earlier in the proceedings, a detective sergeant attached to the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch said they chased accused Stephenson Bennett through a cane field in St Catherine before he was accosted.
The policeman testified that Bennett promised to take them to reputed gang leader Uchence Wilson.
Another policeman also testified to conducting an interview with Wilson at the Kingston Public Hospital, where the alleged gang leader lied about being shot while on a visit in the Maxfield, St Andrew, area.
Wilson and his 23 alleged cronies are being tried for breaches of the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act 2014, commonly referred to as the anti-gang legislation, for crimes allegedly committed between 2015 and 2017.
They are also being tried for breaches of the Firearms Act.