Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

The murder trial of 35-year-old businessman Stephen Grant, of Queen Hill, St. Andrew, which began on October 30, was aborted yesterday because of jury tampering.

Mr. Justice Lloyd Hibbert discharged the 11-member jury and directed the police to launch an intensive investigation into the matter with a view to identifying and prosecuting persons who interfered with a juror.

When the trial resumed yesterday morning in the Home Circuit Court, the foreman told the court that a member of the jury was being harassed through telephone calls and that someone also went to the home of the juror.

The foreman said that, as a result of the interference, the jurors felt that they could not give a true verdict based on what had happened.

Grant's case has been set for mention on November 17.

A jury was selected on October 30 to try the case but the next day one of the jurors reported sick and the trial continued with 11 jurors.

Grant, who is in custody, is facing a retrial for the murder of 17-year-old Dunoon Technical student Kymani Bailey. Bailey was fatally shot 13 times outside a nightclub in New Kingston about 4.30 a.m. on April 18, 1999.

Grant was convicted of the murder on February 28, 2003. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 20 years before becoming eligible for parole. He took the case to the United Kingdom Privy Council which, on January 6, allowed the appeal. The case was remitted to the Court of Appeal which ruled that Grant should face a retrial.