Nov 9 trial for cellphone cops
Constables Errol Bonner and Kumar Bailey, who are each facing a charge of breaching the Corruption Prevention Act, in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate’s Court, will be tried on November 9 for allegedly accepting two cell phones to overlook a traffic violation.
Appearing before presiding Magistrate Judith Pusey Friday, both men were ordered to return to court on November 9 when they will face trial. The two were also denied bail and remanded in custody until that time.
Bonner and Bailey, who were assigned to the Mobile Reserve Division of the police force, are alleged to have accepted a Motorola Razr cellular phone and a Motorola V60 cellular phone from two men travelling in a motorcar on September 22. They had the car driven in the oppositie direction on the one-way road from the roundabout to the departure station at the Norman Manley International Airport.
The following day, Bonner, was arrested and charged by the police during a sting operation that was set up on the Airport compound to catch the officers, following a complaint by the two men who allegedly lost their phones.
Bailey, however, managed to evade the police by diving into the nearby waters and swimming away. But some time later, he turned himself in to his attorney, Linda Wright and was subsequently arrested and charged.
Bonner is represented by attorney-at-law Kenneth Farquharson.