St James man pleads guilty to escaping custody, to be sentenced next month
Published:Monday | February 3, 2025 | 5:01 PMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Fidel Ferguson, one of the five inmates who escaped from police custody on December 14, 2024, and who was recaptured the following day, will know his fate when he returns to the St James Parish Court for sentencing in that matter on February 18.
Ferguson, who is 36 years old and of a Mountain View address in Greenwood in St James, pleaded guilty to escaping custody when he appeared briefly before presiding parish judge Diahann Bernard on Wednesday.
“Does Your Honour wish, in this matter, for his criminal records?” the clerk of the court inquired of Bernard, after Ferguson submitted his guilty plea.
“Yes, and also a social enquiry report,” replied Bernard. “You will be sentenced in this matter on February 18.”
In addition, Ferguson is currently awaiting sentencing on another matter, which is also before the St James Parish Court. He was previously tried and found guilty on the charge of larceny of a motor vehicle, an offence committed on July 18 that year.
Regarding the escaping custody charge, reports are that Ferguson, who was in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in Montego Bay escaped custody, alongside four other prisoners, between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on December 14, 2024. He was recaptured at 3:00 a.m. on December 15 after residents of Paisley district saw him there and summoned the police.
According to reports, when the police arrived in the area, Ferguson was seen suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. He was taken to the hospital under police guard and subsequently charged with escaping custody.
Two of the other four escapees, 42-year-old labourer Edgar Spence of Flower Hill district in St James, and murder accused Tyrese Brown of Albert Town, in Trelawny, were killed in subsequent police operations. Brown was killed in an alleged shoot-out with the police within 24 hours of escaping while Brown was killed in a confrontation with the police in Freeman’s Hall, Trelawny.
The other two inmates are still on the run. They are Daniel McIntosh of Peddlers Lane, Mt Salem, St James, who is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon; and Maurice Belnavis of Norwood, St James, charged with simple larceny.
Under Section 17 of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act, it is an offence for a person who is lawfully detained on a criminal charge to escape from custody or to rescue any such individual from custody. Offenders may be subjected to any term of imprisonment as warranted by law and to be kept at hard labour during part of or the entire sentence.