Court hears ... gang attack stalled by lack of guns

The St Thomas so-called pastor who is an alleged top-tier member of the Clansman-One Don Gang was reportedly itching for the gang to murder its rivals who were attacking the weakening criminal enterprise while its top brass was behind bars.

Stephanie 'Muma' Christie, the lone female defendant who is on trial with 32 other alleged gangsters, was said to be very active in the gang, and, based on her conversations heard so far in the secret recordings, was extremely loyal to the reputed leader Andre 'Blackman' Bryan. During one of the recordings played in the Home Circuit Court yesterday, the ex- gang member, who secretly captured his conversations with his alleged cronies, said "A bawl Muma a bawl, enuh, dawg. Muma a bawl sey wi deh pon phone a chat and naa do nutten and wi ago mek dem kill off di whole a wi. A dat Muma a bawl sey."

The witness was on a merged call with alleged gangsters 'Shrek', 'Marlon', 'Razeem' [now deceased] Joseph 'Papa' McDermott, Bryan, 'Mickey' and 'City Puss', the gang's alleged second in command, who advised him that they had to wait until nightfall to attack their enemies. Bryan, who was in jail, was also heard in the conversation acknowledging that "A peer f****ry a gwaan."

Equally frustrated was defendant Jahzeal 'Squeeze Eye' Blake.

"Dawg mi na tell yuh and wi nuh guh back a dem breda, a inna de nite ya mi waa go up deh," he was heard saying. McDermott, however, reminded them that they needed more weapons.

"A di two two ting alone, a dat a di problem too breda. Wi waa two more ting inna di nite yah," he said. In that same conversation, McDermott was heard expressing that he wanted to carry out the attack quickly and "bun down couple b********h house, boy affi run weh."

Meanwhile, in an earlier conversation, the former gangster and an alleged member known as 'Squeeze Eye', were heard discussing plans to purchase a firearm in Lauriston, St Catherine.

"Him a seh a dem two deh him have now, but mi mek a next link and di hombre a sey a peer young gal him have," Squeeze Eye said. "...Da hombre wey mi a tell you bout mi ask him bout 'Hanna' but him a sey a peer young gal him have." "Suh nuh young gyal we waah... ?," the witness asked.

The witness then told the court that M-16s were called 'young gyals', because young girl was the symbol assigned to number 16 in the lottery game Cash Pot while Hanna was the name given to handguns by the gangsters. The trial will continue today in the Home Circuit Court.