Prosecutor weighs fresh visit to 2013 Barbican shooting scene as water spend and intern shortage draw fire

Crown prosecutor Kathy-Ann Black told the Home Circuit Court on Tuesday that she may ask the court to approve a physical return to locations tied to the January 12, 2013 shooting deaths of Matthew Lee, Eucliff Dyer and Mark Allen on Acadia Drive in Barbican and in Drew.

The three men were killed during an alleged shootout with the police. A fourth man was said to have escaped, and two illegal firearms were seized. Black was on the second day of her examination-in-chief of an Independent Commission of Investigations officer who had a lead role in the case, during the murder trial of six police officers.

The witness was shown photographs of the scene and confirmed they reflected the aftermath of the incident. He said he last visited the area on Saturday, including the corner of Akedah Drive and Evans Avenue, where part of the shooting occurred. He also went to the apartment complex where Agriculture Minister Floyd Green lived at the time. Green and another person who said they saw parts of the incident from that building were the only witnesses in the trial, which began in January.

The officer told the court the street layout and houses were largely unchanged, though walls opposite Green's former apartment appeared higher and palm trees had grown near the driveway. A guard house now stands at adjoining premises that were turned into an apartment complex. He also walked Evans Avenue for the first time, including on the day of the shooting, and noted differences between the photographs and the area today, including a blue Mitsubishi Outlander in which the men had been travelling.

On trial for murder are Sergeant Steve Roy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton and Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Oraldo Rose and Richard Lynch. Fullerton also faces a charge of making a false statement to INDECOM. Hugh Wildman, John Jacobs and Althea Grant-Cawping represent the accused before Justice Sonya Bertram Linton.

Opposition spokesman on water and special projects Ian Hills said communities represented by the parliamentary opposition are being left out of water expansion work. Citing 34 projects costing J$4.2 billion listed by Water Minister Matthew Samuda in the sectoral debate, Hills said J$3.65 billion, or 85 per cent, is earmarked for constituencies with Jamaica Labour Party MPs. He urged a transparent selection process, quarterly published updates and a national master plan on expanding water access.

The Jamaica Medical Doctors' Association said Tuesday that a shortage of medical interns is putting patient safety and doctors' welfare at risk. President Dr Renee Badroe said reduced intern numbers are stretching hospital teams island-wide, with some interns working 24 to 32-hour shifts on alternate days in breach of internship guidelines. She linked the strain to exhaustion, illness and road accidents among young doctors, and cited reports of very long hours, poor rest facilities and sewage leaking into a doctors' room at one institution.