Appeal court upholds Dixon gun conviction with minor term cut; Wilcott freed; Foster killed in St. Andrew

The Court of Appeal has upheld Rohan Dixon's convictions over a 2015 shoot-out with police in Manning's Hill, St. Andrew, while trimming only two months from the effective prison term he must serve.

Dixon, a St. Catherine resident, was found guilty in 2021 in the Gun Court's High Court division of illegal firearm possession and shooting with intent. He received 15 years on the firearm count and 20 years on the shooting count, to run concurrently, so the longer term controlled. The incident occurred in July 2015 when officers on an operation found a targeted house empty, kept watch, and later saw two armed men approaching from below. A detective inspector, then a sergeant, testified that from a rear window he saw a man advance with a gun aimed at him. He shouted, "Police, don't move." He said the man fired, missed, and fled after return fire. Blood trails were seen in bushes, but the gun and shells were not recovered.

About a month later, a detective corporal said Dixon was held in Gregory Park, St. Catherine, with an ankle wound. Under caution, Dixon allegedly said, "Officer, I said me a go run run run a Mexico and still run in a me foot." He also allegedly admitted being on the scene when shots rang out. At trial he denied involvement and disputed making those statements. The Crown reopened its case on appeal to rebut his denials. This month the appeal panel ruled the convictions safe, citing the officer's firearm description and the inference that Dixon fired fired intending grievous bodily harm. Aggravating factors included a poor social inquiry report, community fear, and two later firearm-related convictions. The court rejected a constitutional delay claim, finding roughly three years and four months of state-attributable delay was not egregious. Dixon's 15-year firearm sentence stands; shooting with intent was reset to 19 years and 10 months, concurrent, from 15 April 2021, with two months' pre-sentence credit.

Separately, electrician Andrew Wilcott, 39, of Mandeville, Manchester, was discharged in the St. Catherine Parish Court on Thursday after the Crown conceded it could not proceed. Acting Senior Parish Court Judge Janelle Nelson-Gail upheld a no-case submission by attorney Chadwick Berry, who noted missing promised DNA evidence and denied knowledge of drugs in a vehicle. Police allege that about 2:30 p.m. on 18 November 2023, while Wilcott parked a Toyota Probox at a plaza in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, a search at the Narcotics Division uncovered a powder resembling cocaine in two speaker boxes. He had faced possession, trafficking, and criminal-property charges tied to an alleged $10 million haul.

In St. Andrew, police are searching for masked gunmen who killed car wash operator Samuel Foster, 59, also known as Alex, about 8:15 p.m. on Saturday along Central Avenue. Reports say a grey Toyota Axio with three occupants stopped; two men spoke briefly with Foster, took his licensed firearm, and shot him. He collapsed in a pool of blood with upper-body wounds. The attackers fled. No motive is known. St. Andrew North police are investigating.