Wed | Nov 13, 2024

Vybz Kartel out of prison

Published:Wednesday | July 31, 2024 | 5:51 PM
Dancehall entertainer Vybz Kartel leaving the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in downtown Kingston on July 31. - Ricardo Maykn photo.

Dancehall star Vybz Kartel is now out of the State's custody and is back on Jamaican streets.

The 48-year-old artiste, who is battling ill health, was met by adoring fans as he left the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in downtown Kingston.

His release came hours after the Court of Appeal today freed him of a 13-year-old murder charge. 

Also freed were Shawn 'Shawn Storm' Campbell, Andre St John and Kahira Jones.

Jones, who is serving an 18–year sentence for wounding with intent stemming from a 2009 incident in which he shot and injured a man in Waterford, Portmore,St Catherine, will not be freed.

That sentence was handed down in 2019.

Kartel and the other men were charged with the 2011 murder of Clive Williams.

They were convicted in 2014.

The Jamaican Court of Appeal upheld their verdicts in 2020 but the Privy Council, the country's highest court, overturned them in March 2024 on grounds of juror misconduct.

The Privy Council did not free the men and sent the case back to the appeal court to determine whether there should be a retrial.

Today, the court ruled against a retrial freeing Kartel and the other men.

The men have denied any involvement in William's killing.

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