Guardsman employee dies of May burns; Ninja Man appeal starts Wednesday

A 43-year-old Guardsman Group employee who suffered third-degree burns in a May fire on South Camp Road has died. Damion Walters succumbed Monday while receiving care at a burn centre in Georgia in the United States.

Walters was one of three men badly burned in an explosion at a garage next to Guardsman Group Beryllium Limited’s headquarters. The men were flown overseas for further treatment. A fourth man injured in the blast died soon after the incident.

Separately, Mandeville detectives are urging people whose property was stolen to check recovered goods at the Mandeville Police Station. Officers recovered items Friday at three locations during a search for break-in suspects in Greenvale and nearby Hatfield.

Among the finds were poker-box parts, televisions, phones, a battery charger, cameras, tools, an audio mixer and speakers. Police said poker-box components dominate the haul and fetch strong prices on the illicit market. A similar public appeal followed a May raid in May Pen Gully, where electronics, appliances, household goods, curtains, plumbing fixtures, toilets, faucets and doors were seized. Owners are asked to bring proof of ownership to the station.

In St. Catherine, Old Harbour Self-Help Division consul Dr. Curt Wall said he hopes authorities will finish processing Haitian nationals housed at the Old Harbour Bay Community Centre. Six more Haitians were found in Old Harbour on Friday evening, linked to a group residents had seen earlier in Bushy Park. Wall said agencies moved quickly over the weekend to start processing so the training centre can resume normal use.

"Luckily, they came on the weekend and hopefully we should be able to process them and to complete the process before Monday morning comes," he said, praising Saturday mobilisation and hoping the group can be moved so classes and high-school activities are not disrupted.

In the Court of Appeal, the long-running appeal of entertainer Desmond "Ninja Man" Valentine and two co-convicts was adjourned again Monday and is now set to open Wednesday. The Crown filed written submissions only last Friday, though they were due by April 6. Defence counsel King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and attorneys Robert Fletcher and Zarah Lewis sought more time to study submissions citing more than 40 authorities.

"We believe that proper preparation involves us reading the prosecution’s response and taking those submissions into account," Fletcher said.

Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Kathy-Ann Pike apologised, saying she had given the defence an affidavit on the late filing. "For me, this type of delay is unprecedented and I really hope it never happens again," she said, citing reassigned co-counsel, heavy caseloads, staff shortages, factual checks on an appeal ground, health issues, and an ongoing murder trial since January. She did not oppose a Tuesday or Wednesday start. Justices David Fraser, Lorna Shelly-Williams and Marcia Dunbar-Green ordered the hearing to begin Wednesday.

Valentine, his son Janiel, and Dennis Clayton received life sentences in 2017 for the 2009 murder of Kingston resident Ricardo Johnson. Justice Martin Gayle sentenced them in the Home Circuit Court in December 2017 after November convictions for murder and shooting with intent. Prosecutors said the killing followed a domestic dispute in Lower Mall Road, St. Andrew, and that the three returned armed the next day, chased Johnson and another man, and opened fire. Fletcher acts for Valentine, Champagnie for his son, and Lewis for Clayton.