THE TEENAGER who was involved in the kidnapping in May last year of 55-year-old social worker Christine English was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on Friday.
Mr. Justice Roy Jones imposed the sentence on 19-year-old Omar Walters, of Arnett Gardens, St. Andrew, after a Home Circuit Court jury convicted him of the kidnapping charge.
UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATOR
One of the main witnesses for the Crown at the trial which began on Monday was an undercover investigator who said he paid $2.5 million in ransom to Walters while posing as the abducted woman's son.
The Crown represented by Stephanie Jackson-Haisley, Crown Counsel, led evidence that the undercover investigator made contact with Walters, on at least three occasions, before handing over the ransom in the woodlands of Peter's Rock, St. Andrew.
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 , 2004, while she and her husband were entering in their home in the hills of 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.
Mrs. English was dropped off in the vicinity of Lyndhurst Road, Kingston on May 15, 2004 after the ransom was paid.
Walters, in an unsworn statement from the dock denied being involved in the kidnapping. He said he was wrongly pointed out at identification parade.
