Update | Two men in Bog Walk Gorge floodgate case freed due to absent witnesses

The two St Catherine men who were charged in 2022 for forcibly removing the padlock from a floodgate in the Bog Walk Gorge have been freed due to the absence of witnesses in the case.

Forty-year-old bus driver Garth Brown and 52-year-old excavator operator Glenroy Denton were charged with malicious destruction of government property and unauthorised entry into a restricted area.

The matter came up for trial in the St Catherine Parish Court on Tuesday, where it was revealed that the police officer responsible for dealing with video evidence was absent and that the investigating officer was not an eyewitness to the incident.

Presiding Judge Desiree Alleyne chided the Crown for not being ready, despite the serious nature of the offence.

Attorney-at-law Alexander Shaw argued that duress of circumstances was a factor in the matter, as although the men could walk home, they risked leaving their vehicle behind to be vandalised or even stolen.

The court was told that the absence of the witnesses would not allow for a viable prosecution in the matter and that the men should therefore be freed.

Reports are that the National Works Agency ordered the closure of the Dam Head floodgate on September 26, 2022, due to flooding in the gorge from the Rio Cobre.

Denton and Brown were subsequently seen breaking the padlock on the floodgate and travelling along the roadway.

The incident was caught on camera.

Both were later arrested and charged.

They have made numerous court appearances.

- Rasbert Turner

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