REPUTED GANG leader, 42-year-old Joel Andem, is to be tried in the Gun Court on January 31 on 10 charges of shooting with intent and 10 charges of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.
The trial date was set yesterday when he appeared in court under tight security.
Andem is being represented by attorneys-at-law Richard Small and Lloyd Shackleford.
The charges against Andem were allegedly committed over the past four years when he was on the police's 'Most Wanted' list. Most of the complainants are policemen.
Andem, who was captured in Clarksonville, St. Ann, on May 26 this year, is also facing two murder charges.
He is also charged with the murder of Lennox French and 48-year-old gas station operator Sylvia Edwards. French was shot dead at his gate at 88 Old Hope Road, St. Andrew on June 26, 2000.
KIDNAPPED
Mrs. Edwards, who lived in Plantation Heights, St. Andrew, was kidnapped along Red Hills Road, St. Andrew, on the morning of July 31, 2000. When a demand for a ransom of $200,000 was not met, she was shot several times and buried in a shallow grave at University Heights, Constitution Hill, St. Andrew.
The murder cases are pending in the Home Circuit Court.
Kenneth Watson, 72, and Denisha Griffiths, 22, of Clarksonville, who were held along with Andem, are facing charges of harbouring a fugitive from justice.
- B.G
