Jamaica court roundup: Guard awarded $10m, Royal Reid trial reset, British visitor fined

The Supreme Court awarded a Montego Bay security guard more than $10 million after ruling that Marksman Limited was negligent when she was raped while working alone at Islander Car Rentals in St. James on February 5, 2018. Justice Dale Staple said AC, sent as a last-minute replacement to a wooden guard house by the entrance, was left behind a chain-link fence, with no working door lock and no adequate system for female lone workers at night. He said the company still had no written deployment policy, proper training, panic button, reliable communication equipment, effective patrol monitoring or real-time CCTV supervision, despite the earlier Leverne Anderson case and other judicial criticism. Staple said a guard is expected to act reasonably, not heroically, and rejected Marksman's claim that AC contributed to her injuries, finding she had reported suspicious activity and that the lock was neither maintained nor tested.

The court accepted her account despite minor inconsistencies and no visible genital injuries, torn clothing, bodily or seminal fluid, saying victims may comply out of fear or shock. AC said the attacker claimed to be one of St. James's most wanted, threatened to kill her, ejaculated in her, and forced oral sex both ways without a condom. Medical evidence showed significant trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder requiring psychotherapy and medication. Staple awarded $6.5 million for assault and battery and $3.5 million for pain, suffering and loss of amenities, plus 3 per cent annual interest from December 20, 2023 to June 16, 2026 and costs if not agreed. He said the employer's duty to provide a safe system of work is personal and non-delegable, noted that a suspect was later identified and brought before the court though that outcome is unknown, and heard appearances from Melissa Cunningham COV for the claimant and Houston Thompson and Chanel Nelson for Marksman, instructed by Nones Scoffield Delion and Company.

In Kingston, Senior Parish Court Judge Sanche Borl said the delayed trial involving former Education Minister Royal Reid and his co-accused must resume on October 5 at the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court. Present were Reid, his wife and daughter Sharen and Charerel Reid, councillor Kim Brown Lawrence and former Caribbean Maritime University head Fritz Pino, while other attorneys were absent, represented by junior counsel, holding counsel or Zoom appearances. Prosecutors allege the five defendants and others unknown defrauded the Ministry of Education and CMU of more than $25 million between March 2016 and October 2019 through bank transfers and cash, including payments for work never done or services never provided. Pino and Reid are specifically accused of using their public roles to run a scheme in which people were paid by CMU without their knowledge and invoices were created by others.

Also at the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court, 31-year-old British visitor Shaun Terrell was fined $50,000 or 30 days' imprisonment after pleading guilty to trying to bribe a Luca police sergeant not to issue a traffic ticket. The allegation was that on June 24, 2026, he offered $4,000. His lawyer said Terrell believed a ticket could sometimes be paid in cash immediately, but the Crown said the money was meant to stop the ticket. Judge Borl ordered an apology and said such conduct was disrespectful, corrupt and perverse, with no legitimate circumstance for money to pass from a citizen to an officer on duty.