Court told bomb threat accused is dead

WESTERN BUREAU:

The case against Cordel Clarke, the Trelawny businessman accused of sending bomb threats to two of the parish’s courthouses, last year, came to an unexpected end yesterday after the court was told that Clarke died recently.

Clarke, 53, of a Top Town address in Trelawny, who was charged for creating public mischief, was slated to appear in court yesterday for the prosecution to complete its case-file.

However, when the matter was called up before presiding parish judge Stanley Clarke, the court was told that the defendant Clarke was shot and killed sometime after his last court appearance.

Judge’s inquiry

“What was it that killed him?” asked Judge Clarke, after he was informed of Clarke’s death.

“It was a gunshot,” the clerk of the court told the judge, without providing additional details. The judge was told that a post-mortem report to confirm the accused man’s death was not yet complete.

Following further discussions with defence attorney Cadene Coleman, Judge Clarke set the case for mention on October 31, when the post-mortem is expected to be submitted. At that time, the matter will be removed from the court’s case-list.

The allegations are that Clarke called the Duncans Police Station on August 21, 2018, and the Falmouth Police Station on December 4, 2018, and on each occasion claimed that a bomb had been placed at the courthouses in the two townships. However, searches of the two locations turned up no bombs.