Nagra Plunkett and Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporters
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields (right), addresses a press conference yesterday at the Police Commissioner's Office on Old Hope Road, St. Andrew, where he gave an update on the fate of the British national and his Jamaican friend who were kidnapped last Saturday. Looking on (from left) are Senior Superintendent Owen Ellington and Acting Deputy Commissioner Linval Bailey. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
AFTER A harrowing five-day ordeal, two abducted men returned home to their relatives after police intervention resulted in the shooting death of one of the kidnappers. The other kidnappers reportedly escaped, and are on the lam.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields confirmed that detectives attached to the Organised Crime and Intelligence Units of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) are now tracking three members of a Negril-based gang. The men, 53-year-old Alfred Stephenson, a British national, and his Jamaican friend, 40-year-old Desmond Douglas, were kidnapped Saturday night along the Norman Manley Boulevard in Negril, Westmoreland.
Stephenson was allowed to escape on Wednesday night after his abductors fled the house where he was being held upon hearing that one of their cronies had been killed in a shoot-out with police at the ransom pickup point. Stephenson then reportedly freed himself, and took a taxi to the Palm Beach Hotel where he was reunited with his wife.
In the meantime, residents in Negril were tight-lipped about the incident, but the town was buzzing with a nervous kind of excitement as the news spread of the dramatic shooting death of the kidnapper, and the near-death experience of the abductees.
When The Gleaner visited the Negril Transportation Centre, the negotiated ransom drop-off point, vendors said they saw nothing.
However, one man identified as 'Jherri Curl', pointed to a cookshop, where he said the dead kidnapper, who was still unidentified, stood minutes before his demise.
NORMAL PRACTICE
"Him (the dead man) was there like him waiting and when him realise that police swarm him, him run towards a car that was parked on the play field beside the centre," he commented. "Is them normal practice to come in here and rob shops and take taxis and then steal the cars."
According to the police, at 10:00 p.m. Saturday, Stephenson, who was staying at the Palm Beach Hotel with his wife, left with Douglas, an employee, and were on their way to purchase food when they were abducted by four men. A $10 million ransom was subsequently demanded for their release. The kidnappers later reduced the ransom to $4 million.
Following tense negotiations with undercover policemen, the men released Douglas on Wednesday to collect the ransom money on their behalf. The gunmen reportedly kept in touch with him via cellphone, as they had exchanged cellular chips with him. In the meantime, a sting operation had been set up at the Negril Transportation Centre and at 4:15 p.m., one of the alleged kidnappers turned up to collect the payment.
Police personnel, who were on hand to witness the transaction, reportedly attempted to accost him and he pointed a gun at a policeman. He was shot and a 9mm Smith and Wesson firearm and 15 live rounds were recovered. Reports are that the dead gunman was wearing Stephenson's gold chain.
Once the man's cronies fled the house, Stephenson turned up about 7:30 p.m. after managing to free himself.
"We had an excellent covert operation that had the men under surveillance," said Superintendent John Morris, crime chief for the Area One police division.
