Police Stop Prisoner Escape in Downtown Area

Shoppers and other pedestrians scurried out for safety yesterday afternoon in stores and shops on King Street, downtown Kingston, as policemen fired shots up in the air in a bid to halt the flight of a prisoner who dashed for freedom shortly after he was sentenced on a firearm charge.

Paul McNeish, 38 years, jeweler, of 60 Molynes Road escaped from the holding area at the Home Circuit Court while policemen were doing paper work as a prelude to taking him to prison to serve up his three-year sentence for illegal possession of a 9mm long pistol. He had pleaded guilty to the charge in the Home Circuit Division of the Gun Court and was sentenced by Justice Roy Jones.

Policemen in hot pursuit of McNeish had a difficult time catching up with him as he out-sprinted them by several yards.

McNeish was subsequently cornered when policemen in a jeep travelling down the King Street, on realising what was being happening, used the vehicle to "bank him" into a corner. He was held near the Kingston Parish Church, about 120 yards from the courthouse.

District Constable Junior Hollingsworth and Inspector Ivanhoe Thompson, who headed the group of policemen in the chase, held McNeish.

"Boy, I've never run so fast in my life," Inspector Thompson remarked after McNeish was placed in the cell at the Home Circuit Court.

An elderly woman who fell while running for safety said that when she heard the gunshots, she thought "war had been broken out" downtown again.

The facts of the case were that in 1999 the police raided a business place at 60 Molynes Road and found the gun. McNeish was arrested and charged with.

Lawyers at the courthouse at the time of the escape voiced the need for adequate security in to the building. The lawyers said the Gun Court needed have its own cells because prisoners should not have to be "rubbing shoulders" with members of the public to and from court.

Since the attempted escape of two men from the cell at the Supreme Court building which houses the Home Circuit Court in December last year, the police having been calling on the authorities to beef up security there. However, their requests have been ignored out.

Shoppers and other pedestrians scurried for safety yesterday afternoon in stores and shops on King Street, downtown Kingston, as policemen fired shots in the air in a bid to halt the flight of a prisoner who dashed for freedom shortly after he was sentenced on a firearm charge.

Paul McNeish, 38, jeweler, of 60 Molynes Road escaped from the holding area at the Home Circuit Court while policemen were doing paper work as a prelude to taking him to prison to serve his three-year sentence for illegal possession of a 9mm pistol. He had pleaded guilty to the charge in the Home Circuit Division of the Gun Court and was sentenced by Justice Roy Jones.

Policemen in hot pursuit of McNeish had a difficult time catching up with him as he out-sprinted them by several yards.

McNeish was subsequently cornered when policemen in a jeep travelling down King Street, on realising what was happening, used the vehicle to "bank him" into a corner. He was held near the Kingston Parish Church, about 120 yards from the courthouse.

District Constable Junior Hollingsworth and Inspector Ivanhoe Thompson, who headed the group of policemen in the chase, held McNeish.

"Boy, I've never run so fast in my life," Inspector Thompson remarked after McNeish was placed in the cell at the Home Circuit Court.

An elderly woman who fell while running for safety said that when she heard the gunshots, she thought "war had broken out" downtown again.

The facts of the case were that in 1999 the police raided a business place at 60 Molynes Road and found the gun. McNeish was arrested and charged.

Lawyers at the courthouse at the time of the escape voiced the need for adequate security in the building. The lawyers said the Gun Court needed its own cells because prisoners should not have to be "rubbing shoulders" with members of the public to and from court.

Since the attempted escape of two men from the cell at the Supreme Court building which houses the Home Circuit Court in December last year, the police having been calling on the authorities to beef up security there. However, their requests have been ignored.