THE PRELIMINARY enquiry into the May 10, 2004 kidnapping of 55-year-old Christine English began this month in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court with an undercover investigator testifying how he delivered the $2.5 million in ransom while posing as the abducted woman's son. Resident Magistrate Desiree Alleyne heard the investigator outline how he made contact with the accused, 18-year-old Omar Walters, on at least three occasions before handing over the ransom in the woodlands of Peter's Rock, St. Andrew.
Attorney-at-law Eme Usim vigorously cross-examined the investigator, who deponed of having near-miss experiences on the way to delivering the ransom, saying he had to call on his overseas training to outfox persons lying in ambush.
ABDUCTED
English, a leading local figure in the counselling and treatment of HIV/AIDS, was abducted by a group of men on the evening of May 10 as she and her husband, Bruce, were entering their home in Craig Hill, St. Andrew.
The gunmen invaded English's home and tied up her husband along with a gardener, leaving a ransom note in her husband's pocket.
Initially, the kidnappers had demanded a $6 million ransom but later reduced the figure. English's family subsequently asked the police not to continue with their investigations and the ransom was paid for her release. She was dropped off in the vicinity of Lyndhurst Road, Kingston on May 15.
Walters, who has been remanded in custody, is set to return to court on January 6 when the enquiry will continue.
