Supreme Court Frees Three Alleged Ronko Gang Members on Bail as Leader Awaits July Hearing

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to three men said to belong to the Ronko Gang, ending more than two years in custody for each of them while their alleged ringleader, Constable Tafari Silvera, remains locked up ahead of a further bail application set for July.

David Henry, Constable Tehneil Francis, and Tevin Henriques walked free after Justice Leighton Pusey upheld their lawyers’ bail bids. They now stand alongside co-defendants already out on strict terms: Jasette Brown, Constable Daneilio Barnes, Ovilgo McKenzie, and Constable Rajay Morrison. Those earlier releases came with curfews, orders to hand over travel papers, and port stop notices.

Counsel for the accused told the court that although the charges are grave, the men should not languish in prison indefinitely while the Crown offers no firm timeline for trial. The eight defendants—four police officers and four civilians—are represented by Denise Hinson, Tamika Harris, Andria Whyte Walters, Donahue Martin, and Richard Lynch.

The latest bail push followed a prosecution disclosure last month that its case files were still not complete. Defence teams pressed Justice Pusey to release the four who remained behind bars, calling it unfair to keep them detained solely because the state’s paperwork was unfinished. They also pointed out that two scheduled trials had already fallen through for accused persons who have been before the courts since 2022.

A trial fixed for September 16, 2025 was scrapped in July of last year, partly because several defence lawyers were absent and others signalled they would not be prepared. Justice Pusey then made plain that the later April 2026 start window was meant to give counsel time to be ready to see the matter through.

That April 13, 2026 trial, slated to run until June 15, 2026, never got under way. A January 2026 readiness session was pushed to February, the date was vacated again, and the file was sent into case management before Justice Pusey in April.

When the matter was mentioned on April 30, the court heard that no lawyer from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had been formally assigned. Justice Pusey gave the prosecution until Thursday, May 14 to supply a trial timetable and witness list. It then became evident that no trial date could be fixed, paving the way for this week’s bail hearings.

Seven men and one woman face joint counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisation) Act, widely known as the anti-gang statute. Investigators believe the Ronko Gang, said to count several officers among its ranks, is tied to 17 separate episodes—including shootings, burglary, aggravated robbery, illegal gun possession, shop breaking, conspiracy to murder, and abduction—across Clarendon, Manchester, St Elizabeth, St Catherine, St Mary, Trelawny, Kingston, St Andrew, and St James between 2019 and 2021.