Guilty Old Harbour mechanic to be sentenced next year

Twenty-eight year-old mechanic Clayon ‘Tallman’ Mills of Gordon Wood district, Church Pen eventually pleaded guilty in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Half-Way-Tree on October 19.

With the nation celebrating Emancipation Day, detectives swooped down on a premises in the Gordon Wood district where 11 stolen motor vehicles were discovered.

Mills, who was on location at the time, could not give proper account for the vehicles, raising further suspicions amongst the police.

Further probing by investigators led them to believe that the area was the base of a major car stealing racket with Mills amongst the players involved.

Despite the success in the court against Mills, who is slated for sentencing on January 4, 2024, investigators continue to pursue others who they believe to be part of the syndicated ring.

Since the cracking of this car stealing ring, the Old Harbour Police CIB informed that six owners have come forward to reclaim their vehicles. Detective Inspector Carl Morris, who heads the Old Harbour Police CIB, said four of the six vehicles that have been returned to their owners are from within the Old Harbour area. He further informed that one of the vehicles is from Constant Spring while the owner of the other resides in Spanish Town.

In court Mills had initially entered a not guilty plea to charges of larceny of motor vehicle and receiving stolen property. But when the prosecution presented its case, the accused accepted the charges read out before him.

He, however, told Senior Judge Lori-Anne Cole Montague that three days before police raided his garage he was contacted by a man to disassemble three crashed motor vehicles.

The judge has ordered a social enquiry report which in all likelihood will be a factor in the length of sentencing.