Appeal court frees St. Catherine mechanic as police seize illegal guns in Kingston raids

The Court of Appeal has overturned the murder conviction of St. Catherine auto mechanic Kenneth Pottinger and ordered his release after he served more than six years of a life sentence imposed in January 2020. Pottinger had been convicted in September 2019 for the fatal shooting of Davie Powell along St. John's Road in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, on February 12, 2008. He was ordered to serve 23 years before parole eligibility.

At trial, King's Counsel Peter Champagnie argued the matter should be withdrawn from the jury because of weaknesses in identification evidence, but the trial judge left the issue for jurors to decide. On appeal, attorney Samoy Campbell challenged the safety of the conviction, citing problems with identification evidence and the directions given to the jury. A panel comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Marvel Macdonald-Bishop, Justice Nicole Simmons, and Justice Marcia Dunbar Green allowed the appeal on those grounds. Written reasons are expected to follow.

Police under Operation Iron Shield recovered two illegal 9mm pistols and 15 rounds of ammunition in separate Kingston operations less than 12 hours apart. On Friday evening, officers searching Crescent Road in Kingston 11 found a Taurus pistol with 11 rounds concealed among debris; no arrest was made. Around 4:30 Saturday morning, teams responding to an illegal party on Solitary Road in Cotterburn Gardens came under fire. One man was found with gunshot wounds and taken to hospital, and a search of the area turned up another pistol with four rounds.

Thirty-three-year-old Demo Pennington of Trelawny District, Highgate, who was already before the courts over an alleged Tinder-linked rape and robbery, has been hit with further charges. Constant Spring Police said he met a woman through a dating application on Sunday, April 26, and they arranged to meet in Half Way Tree the next day. During the outing, he allegedly drove her to Temple Hall main road in St. Andrew, stopped at a supermarket, and left with her belongings—including two cell phones, about $80,000 in cash, bank cards, and personal documents—while she was inside the store. Unauthorized transactions totalling roughly $100,000 were later made from her accounts. Pennington was positively identified at an identification parade and charged on Friday, July 3, with larceny by trick and unauthorised access to computer data. He had been charged on Tuesday with forcible abduction, rape, and robbery with aggravation over a separate complaint involving a 43-year-old woman he met online in April 2026 and allegedly attacked after picking her up along Hagley Park Road in St. Andrew on June 25.

More than 50 Cuban nurses are expected to return to Jamaica's public health system months after a decades-old medical cooperation programme between Kingston and Havana ended in March when the countries failed to agree new terms following the expiry of the previous arrangement in February 2023. Officials said 40 Cuban nurses had remained, while another group that returned home had since been granted permits to come back. Recruitment is also under way involving Ghanaian nurses, diaspora applicants, and a technical delegation from the Philippines.

Former Jamaica Medical Doctors Association president Dr. Winston warned that sending Cuban personnel home has deepened nursing shortages and placed greater strain on hospitals such as the University Hospital of the West Indies, where bed availability and patient loads have drawn criticism. Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton said lower-than-expected intern numbers—not Cuban nurse staffing—has been a major factor, noting that just over 100 interns entered the system recently compared with roughly 200 in past years, though several hundred more are expected in July. He acknowledged management challenges during demand spikes but stressed that hospitals require efficient preparation rather than excuses when pressure rises.