Yardee! Gleaner News Blog

TWO unidentified men were shot dead and two illegal firearms seized during a joint police/military operation at Albion and Salt Spring Road, Montego Bay, St James this morning.Both men are slim build and of dark complexion. Reports are that about 5:15 am, during a cordon and search operation in the Albion community, one of the unidentified men, who is about 30 years old, allegedly opened gunfire at security forces. The fire was returned, he was wounded and a .380 Beretta pistol with ten rounds of ammunition taken from him.About 15 minutes after the first incident, when the team went to Salt Spring Road, they were again allegedly fired on by the other unidentified man, who is about 20 years old. The officers took evasive action and returned the fire, hitting their attacker. The weapon, a 9 mm Taurus pistol with nine rounds of ammunition was taken from him. The injured men were taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where they were pronounced dead. The Bureau of Special Investigations is investigating.

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Tracey HolderAN Ananda Alert has been activated for 16-year-old Tracey Holder of Gutters, Granville, Montego Bay, St James, who has been missing since Wednesday, June 30.Tracey is of dark complexion, medium build and about 157 centimetres (five feet two inches) tall.Reports are that about 7:30 pm, she left home for an undisclosed location and has not been seen or heard from since. Efforts by her relatives to contact her have proved futile. At the time she went missing, she was dressed in a pink blouse, white capri pants and a pair of yellow slippers.Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Tracey Holder is being asked to contact the Granville Police at 952-3337, police 119 emergency number or the nearest police station.Abbey-Gayle RichardsSIXTEEN-year-old Abbey-Gayle Richards of Pear Hill district, Stony Hill, St Andrew has been reported missing from home since Monday, June 28. Abbey-Gayle is of dark complexion, slim build and about 160 centimetres (five feet three inches) tall and was dressed in a pink blouse and yellow pants the last time she was seen.Reports are that about 6:30 am, Abbey-Gayle’s mother left her at home and upon her return she was discovered missing. Anyone having information as to the whereabouts of Abbey-Gayle Richards is being asked to call the Stony Hill Police at 942-2223, police 119 emergency number or the nearest police station.Venice BrownSIXTEEN-year-old Venice Brown, otherwise called ‘Bom Bom’, of Western Park, May Pen, Clarendon has been reported missing from home since Sunday, June 27.She is of brown complexion, stout build, about 155 centimetres (5 feet 1 inch) tall with a scar on her forehead. Reports are that about 8:00 am, Venice left home for an undisclosed destination and has not been seen or heard from since. When she was last seen, she was dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans pants and a pair of black slippersAnyone knowing the whereabouts of Venice Brown is being asked to contact the May Pen Police at 986-2208, police 119 emergency number or the nearest police station.No photograph was obtained.

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BARCELONA, Spain, (AP) — Britain’s Dwain Chambers has run a meet record of 10.14 seconds in the 100 meters in Barcelona, ahead of Dexter Lee of Jamaica and Michael Rogers of the United States.Running into a headwind of 0.9 metres per second, Chambers broke the previous Ciutat de Barcelona meet record of 10.15.The sprinter will compete at the European Championships this month, continuing his comeback from a ban for a positive steroid test in 2003.Also today, Chaunte Howard-Lowe of the United States won the women’s high jump with a leap of 2.00 metres, beating world champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia.Spain’s Arturo Casado ran the fastest time in Europe this year in the 1,500 metres, with 3 minutes, 35.02 seconds.

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THREE of the civilians who were held in the Munster Road massive gun and ammunition find in East Kingston earlier this year are to be sentenced on July 23.The date was set today when the men appeared in the High Court Division of the Gun Court.Those to be sentenced are businessman Garnett Pellington, who pleaded guilty to a count of illegal possession of firearm and Charles Morris and David Blagrove pleaded guilty to all 19 counts for which they were charged.The three had pleaded guilty on Monday and are set give evidence against the only police officer charged in the case, Sergeant Russell Robinson.The cop, who was denied bail today, had previously pleaded not guilty in connection with 18 counts of illegal possession of firearms.Robinson is to go on trial September 10. The date was set today.The men were arrested on February 4 after a gun and ammunition find at Munster Road in East Kingston.Robinson, who was assigned to the Armoury and Stores at the Elletson Road Police Station, was also charged for breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act after police reported that he begged the arresting cops in the Munster Road bust to release or kill him.Morris and Blagrove worked at the station at the time of their arrest. The guns and ammunition were stolen from the station.

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CRIME has dipped dramatically in June according to a release from the Police High Command today. The release pointed to dramatic declines in murder, shooting, rape, carnal abuse, robbery, break-ins, and larceny last month when compared to the same period last year. “Overall, there was a 21 per cent decline in major crimes for the period under review, 964 in June 2009 compared to 758 in June 2010 – a difference of 206,” the release stated. The statistics showed an 18 per cent decrease in major crimes — from 930 in May to 758 in June.Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, in a separate release said steadfast policing coupled with the State of Emergency were responsible for the downward trend. He said a coordinated approach to fighting crime must continue if the current trend is to continue.”The police are attributing the decreases in the crime figures for June to co-ordinated counter gang activities supported by emergency powers granted under the State of Emergency which started in Kingston and St Andrew on Sunday, May 23 and which was later extended to include sections of St Catherine,” he saidThe number of recorded murders decreased by 29, moving down from 120 in June 2009 to 91 in 2010. This represents a 24 per cent decrease.There were 87 less murders in June when compared with May, a decrease of 49 per cent.  Shootings have also declined from 140 in June last year to 92 in June 2010, a 34 per cent dip. The usually volatile police divisions of Kingston Western; St Andrew North; St Catherine North; St Catherine South; St James and Clarendon all recorded decreases murders in June this year.St James recorded nine less murders in June 2010, moving from 19 in 2009 to 10, a 47 per cent drop, while Clarendon recorded two less murders moving from 16 in 2009 to 14 this year.Despite the encouraging figures, Ellington said the police were not about to let up.“The downward trend though encouraging, leaves no room for complacency and so the security forces will be continuing their anti-crime operations islandwide in a resolute and coordinated manner,” he said.

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CHIEF of Staff in the Jamaica Defence Force Major General Stewart Saunders, says if law and order is to be maintained in Jamaica  members of the security forces will have to be resolute and prepared to carry out their duties without fear or favour.Saunders made the call this morning while speaking at the Jamaica Police Academy Passing Out Parade.”Every one must be treated fairly under the law be they rich, poor or influential,” the Major General said.Sixty-eight new constables graduated from the Police Academy in Twickenham Park, St Catherine during the event.Saunders said based on the current crime situation in the country, disciplined approaches were needed in policing.

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Singer Faith D’Aguilar, who was accused of being in possession of a cannon that was reportedly stolen from a heritage site, can now breathe a sigh of relief after the case against her was adjourned sine die…

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Gunmen from sections of west Kingston say they are regrouping in an effort to maintain peace and order in the area despite the absence of a don. Through a release which was issued yesterday, the Police High Command claimed…

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For many Jamaicans, the World Cup is a highly anticipated event. Even though Jamaica has only managed to reach the world stage once, this has not stopped Jamaicans from aligning themselves to a team.

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Popular Morant Bay, St Thomas businessman Ludlow McQuinnie and two other men, a father and son, have been detained for breaches of the Firearms Act.

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