Court still in the dark in quack doctor case
Published:Friday | June 7, 2019 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The much-anticipated bail hearing for the alleged quack doctor who reportedly fleeced western Jamaicans out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been delayed until June 24 in a bid to give her lawyer time to receive outstanding documents from the prosecution concerning her true identity.
The defendant, who is known by the names Alicia England, England McCrane, and Dr McCrane, was given the new court date and remanded following her latest appearance in the St James Parish Court on Monday, June 3.
During the court sitting, England’s lawyer, Martyn Thomas, told presiding Parish Judge Sandria Wong-Small that her identity information was still in the authorities’ custody.
“My instructions are that the Government is in possession of everything that she relies on to prove her identity. Her driver’s licence, which is in the name England McCrane, is with the police, and the deed poll (a document to formalise a change of a person’s name) is with the prosecution,” said Thomas.
“She came down from the United States on an emergency travel document, and we don’t have that in our possession. She denies breaching the Medical Act in its entirety,” Thomas added.
But Wong-Small said that she would not consider a bail application for the defendant if her identity could not be verified.
“If I don’t know who she is, she’s not going anywhere. If I’m giving bail, I have to know to whom I’m giving bail,” Wong-Small said before setting June 24 as the next mention date.
England was arrested and charged in March after she was allegedly discovered posing as a medical doctor in western Jamaica without the requisite qualifications and licence. The Medical Association of Jamaica subsequently issued a warning to the public that persons should carry out their due diligence if they suspect that individuals are posing as doctors.
England first appeared in the St James Parish Court on April 9 when an order was made for her identity to be independently verified. She also appeared before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on similar charges.