IN JAMAICA: Senior cop James Forbes convicted on corruption charge.... Forbes to appeal conviction. Should Forbes lose his appeal it would bring an end to the 30-year career of a man who was slated for promotion

Saturday, May 10, 2014 Jamaica Observer   

SENIOR Superintendent of Police James Forbes, the cop who in the 1990s became the poster boy of what a clean police force should be, was yesterday convicted on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The guilty verdict, handed down by Corporate Area Magistrate Stephanie Jackson-Haisley, makes Forbes the most senior member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to be convicted on corruption charges.

FORBES… showed no emotion at the verdict

He's to be sentenced in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court next week Thursday. His bail was extended until then.

Following the conviction, Queen's Counsel Jacqueline Samuels-Brown gave notice that she would be appealing the decision, but Jackson-Haisley told her to wait until after sentencing before she gives notice.

Should Forbes lose his appeal it would bring an end to the 30-year career of a man who was slated for promotion to the post of assistant commissioner just before the arrest.

Yesterday, Forbes showed no emotion at the verdict but earlier he was seen rubbing his fingers relentlessly, and constantly swallowed hard when it became obvious what the decision would be.

In handing down the verdict, the magistrate said she found that Forbes was aware of the circumstances surrounding businessman Bruce Bicknell, in that Bicknell had been arrested and was before the court on allegations that he attempted to bribe a police officer during a traffic stop, when he (Forbes) called the meeting that resulted in a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice being brought against him.

"The meeting was designed to affect the outcome of the matter against [Mr Bicknell]," Jackson-Haisley told a court packed with stunned police officers. "His act was intended to pervert the course of justice."

The magistrate rejected Forbes' defence and said she found him to be "changing his defence as the trial progressed". She said she also found him to be "insincere and disingenuous" in his testimony. more