BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A Jamaican national, whose address was given as Buckley’s Estate, was sentenced to serve three months at Her majesty’s Prison for endangering persons, according to a police report.
He is Wilford Grey, a former employee of Lennox Warner and Partners Construction Company.
In addition to being charged and jailed for endangering persons, Grey was also charged with false pretence and was handed a 12-month suspended sentence; charges to which he had pleaded guilty.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Warner said he had employed Grey as a service provider and on Friday (Oct. 13) when he went to collect his wages, the clerk mistakenly paid him with a cheque to the tune of EC$5,500.
The cheque, according to Warner, was to be paid to a painter who carried the same Christian name as Grey – Wilford. He, however, accepted the cheque knowing that he was not entitled to that amount of money and went to cash it at the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank.
At the bank, a teller realised that the surname was different to the one on his ID and advised that he had it rectified.
Warner said that Grey left the bank but returned some 25 minutes after and told the teller that “he spoke to me and that everything was okay because I was paying him off and that I would call the bank later and sort out the matter”.
The contractor also said that the clerk saw Grey on the following day and asked him to return the cheque because a mistake was made and he promised to return same, but he did not.
“I later went to the bank and found out that he had cashed the cheque. Not only did the clerk err but also the bank,” Warner said.
Warner further said that on a number of occasions he went in search of Grey but did not find him. Consequently, and as a consequence he reported the matter to the police and Grey was placed on a watch list from leaving the Federation.
According to a police report, Grey turned up at the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport in an attempted to leave the country. However, when confronted by the police “he made an effort to run but was pursued and apprehended”.
This media house was informed that on Wednesday (Oct. 18), Grey attempted to wing out of St. Kitts aboard a British Airways aircraft to Antigua, but when approached by the police ran onto the tarmac in an attempt to board the aircraft.
According to the police report, when searched, he had over EC$3,000 in his possession and a confirmed ticket to travel aboard the said aircraft to Antigua.
At the court, Wilford Grey was ordered to compensate Lennox Warner the sum of EC$5,500 forthwith.
