Appeal court adjusts Dixon gun sentence; electrician cleared; car wash operator killed in St. Andrew

The Court of Appeal has upheld Rohan Dixon’s convictions but reduced his term for shooting with intent after a resentencing exercise, granting two months’ credit for time he spent in custody before his sentences took effect.

Dixon, of St. Catherine, was convicted in 2021 in the Gun Court division of the High Court and originally received 15 years for illegal possession of a firearm and 20 years for shooting with intent, to run concurrently. The incident occurred in July 2015 when police on an operation in Manning’s Hill, St. Andrew, found a targeted house empty but kept watch. A detective, then a sergeant, testified that from the rear of the premises he saw two armed men approaching, shouted “Police, don’t move,” and was fired upon before returning fire. The gunman fled; blood was later found in nearby bushes. About a month later Dixon was arrested in Gregory Park, St. Catherine, with an ankle wound. Under caution he reportedly 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 were fired. At trial he denied involvement.

The appeal panel ruled the convictions safe, citing the officer’s description of the firearm and evidence Dixon fired with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Aggravating factors included a poor social inquiry report and prior firearm convictions. The court rejected claims of unconstitutional trial delay, finding roughly three years and four months attributable to the state was not egregious. Dixon’s 15-year firearm sentence stands; shooting with intent was substituted with 19 years and 10 months, concurrent from 15 April 2021.

Separately, 39-year-old electrician Andrew Wilcott of Mandeville, Manchester, was freed Thursday in the St. Catherine Parish Court after the Crown conceded it could not proceed. Wilcott had faced possession of cocaine, trafficking, and possession of criminal property over an alleged find valued at $10 million in speaker boxes inside a Toyota Probox at a plaza in Old Harbour on 18 November 2023. Acting Senior Parish Court Judge Janelle Nelson-Gail upheld a no-case submission by attorney Chadwick Berry, who cited missing promised DNA evidence and denied knowledge of any drugs.

In St. Andrew, police are searching for masked gunmen who killed 59-year-old car wash operator Samuel Foster, also known as Alex, about 8:15 p.m. Saturday at his business on 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 wounds to the upper body. No motive has been established. St. Andrew North police are investigating.