Portland driver fined $50,000 for bribe, UHWI nurses protest, Kingston shooting probe

A Portland motorist was fined $50,000 on Tuesday after pleading guilty to offering a $5,000 bribe to a police officer on May 22, 2026, while he was being ticketed for a traffic offence on West Street in Port Antonio.

Ali Walters appeared before Senior Parish Judge Jacqueline Wilcott, entered a guilty plea, and paid the fine. The banknote was tendered in court as an exhibit. The court said his early admission worked in his favour by sparing unnecessary trial time. He was sentenced under the Corruption Prevention Act, section 142, to pay $50,000 or serve 20 days' hard labour.

In Connecticut, the family of two Jamaican brothers killed in a shooting outside a West Haven bar is raising funds to bring their bodies home for burial. Aiguel Blake, 31, and Jir Blake, 34, were shot about 1:30 a.m. on June 20 and were pronounced dead at hospital. Police have made no arrests and say the inquiry continues.

Their mother, Marie Blake, launched a GoFundMe two days ago to cover repatriation, funeral, and related costs. About US$3,615 has been contributed toward a US$30,000 target. She said the family is heartbroken and wants the men laid to rest in Jamaica. "As we grief, we are now faced with the difficult responsibility of bringing them home to Jamaica so they can be laid to rest, surrounded by their family and the place they called home in their hearts," she said.

At the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew, services returned to normal after nurses in the accident and emergency department staged a protest earlier Tuesday over severe overcrowding. The hospital said patients were moved from A&E to inpatient wards to ease congestion. Nurses had walked off the job amid claims that outdated beds on wards blocked the installation of new ones, leaving some emergency patients held in the department for days after initial treatment.

St Andrew South police are searching for several men, including reputed gang leader Cheyenne Williamson, also known as Ryan, after a shooting linked to a family dispute in Kingston 13 about 4:00 a.m. Tuesday. Along Espite Avenue, a 31-year-old man was shot and hospitalised after an argument that followed an arson attack on his mother's home. Investigators say the complainant had gone from Mary Avenue, where he was staying with his girlfriend, after learning the house was ablaze. Assistant Commissioner Michael Fips, who heads the Area Force, said Williamson was ordered to surrender by 6:00 p.m. Tuesday and that officers were conducting operations to capture him and his associates while monitoring the dispute.