Murder-accused constable Andrew Wilson granted $1 million bail in Latoya Bulgin shooting case

A police constable accused of fatally shooting Latoya 'Buju' Bulgin has secured bail roughly two weeks after a judge first refused to release him. Constable Andrew Wilson, who stands charged with murder over the May 17 death of the 45-year-old Granville resident, was granted release on $1 million bail with as many as three sureties when he returned to the St James Parish Court on Monday.

Wilson, who is defended by lawyers Peter Champagnie and Michael Hemmings, faced Parish Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton for the second time in the matter. Prosecutors told the court they now hold a statement from the owner of a CCTV system said to have recorded the deadly encounter.

Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton set Wilson free on tightly drawn terms. He must live at a fixed address and check in regularly at a named police station. Neither location was read out in open court, with the judge citing fears for the accused man's safety. Wilson must also hand over his travel papers, and a stop order has been placed to block him from leaving the island through any port.

The hearing also revealed gaps in the prosecution file. Several critical papers are still outstanding, among them the ballistic certificate, the post-mortem report and a forensic certificate. The case was pushed to July 10.

Wilson was taken into custody and charged on June 3 after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that he answer a murder count linked to Bulgin's death.

The shooting has drawn heavy public scrutiny since CCTV clips of the incident began circulating online, with footage appearing to show a uniformed officer discharging a weapon at a vehicle Bulgin was driving. Anger grew further when separate videos surfaced of her body being loaded into a police vehicle, fuelling street protests in Granville and fresh demands that officers wear body cameras during high-risk operations.