CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, May 29.2018 – PREMIER, Mark Brantley has lashed out at those critics who say that the system in Nevis failed when it came to flagging wanted Jamaican, Fitzroy Andre Coore.
Coore, who was nabbed in Antigua earlier this month, fled Jamaica as he was being investigated by authorities over a murder in that country.
The young man was arrested after he disembarked a LIAT flight from St. Kitts and Nevis, at the VC Bird International Airport in Antigua and Barbuda, where he told police that he was hiding out in the federation.
According to the local police force, immigration officials stated that they were never made aware that the Jamaican was ever wanted in his home country.
“The Chief Immigration Officer and the Police High Command would like to make it very clear that at no point in time prior to, or during his stay in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, was any information passed on to our Immigration Authorities or other Law Enforcement agencies in St. Kitts and Nevis from any regional or international institution with regards to him being wanted in Jamaica,” police said in statement.
At his press conference today (May 29), Premier Brantley cautioned people to be mindful of what information they spread, reminding of the police’s statement.
“The obligation was on the Jamaican authorities to alert all of the Caribbean… And based on [what] the high command indicated, and the Minister of National Security has said publicly that they [Jamaicans] did not alert the authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis that this gentleman was a wanted fugitive. Apparently, when he got to Antigua he was apprehended, so Antigua had more information than we did,” explained Brantley.
Brantley adamantly stated that it is not fair to criticize the system because the young man was treated as an ordinary citizen, that was owing to the lack of information.
“It is not fair to say that it is a failing of the system here because if he wasn’t flagged then the system wouldn’t treat him otherwise,” he added.
Premier Brantley, in responding to a SKNVibes question on if the government is concerned that other criminals may be hiding out in St. Kitts and Nevis, said he does not know.
“I think that the best of systems from time to time lapses. I don’t know if it is that there is any over breakdown in the system. It was unfortunate with this Jamaican fugitive that we did not have the information. But I am hopeful that with better communication that that problem would be avoided in the future.”
