Thu | Mar 28, 2024
Uchence Wilson Gang Trial

Uchence Wilson Gang Trial | Gangsters held family at gunpoint – witness

Published:Wednesday | May 8, 2019 | 12:00 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer

Three men barged into a St Ann residence on the morning of April 25, 2017, holding a five-member family at gunpoint, tying them up and robbing them of cell phones and other items, including a Toyota bus, which was driven away from the scene, according to one of the robbery victims.

The robbery victim, who said she lived at the house with her husband and three children, told the court that she was in her bedroom with her husband and her youngest child when two men, one of whom was armed, kicked in the door to the house.

Testifying yesterday in the trial for reputed gang leader Uchence Wilson and his 23 alleged cronies, she told the court that the armed man entered her bedroom and demanded money from her husband. The other man went into the kitchen and retrieved a knife.

She told the court that after some amount of coercion, her husband told the robbers that he had money in his pants in the ­bathroom, which he was instructed to retrieve.

The witness said that following this, the men took at least five cell phones from them.

She said that they were all tied up, after which the men exited the house.

According to the witness, she knew when the perpetrators left as she heard the vehicle driving off.

Meanwhile, the witness identified one of the phones said to have been stolen from her home.

Her husband, who also gave testimony, identified health cards and an advance card, which are said to have been in the vehicle when it was stolen. They were admitted into evidence.

It was revealed in court that the vehicle was never recovered.

Wilson and his 23 alleged gang members, including four women and policeman, are on trial for breaches of the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act 2014, commonly known as the anti-gang legislation, for crimes allegedly committed from 2015 to 2017.

They are also being tried for breaches of the Firearms Act.

nickoy.wilson@gleanerjm.com