Murder suspect 'Devil' will not affect councillor's political fortunes
November 13, 2005
ST CATHERINE councillor Ned Lawrence whose son is wanted for questioning by the police in relation to several murders in Spanish Town, the parish capital, still enjoys the support of the People's National Party, on whose ticket the councillor was elected. Police have identified the son only as 'Devil'.
PNP deputy general secretary, Colin Campbell said party officials had discussed Devil "at length" with Lawrence, adding that the councillour retains the party's confidence.
"Inasmuch as we have to take some responsibility for our children, the issue regarding his son is not one in which he is involved," said Campbell, speaking with the Sunday Observer.
Lawrence, the deputy general secretary said, acted correctly by using the media to appeal to his son to get in contact with the police.
The police had issued a public appeal for the councillor to assist them in locating his son, whom they subsequently said is a member of the PNP-linked and Spanish Town-based Klansman Gang.
The issue of the councillor's son is unlikely to arise in the St Catherine Parish Council here Lawrence holds a seat. Mayor of Spanish Town and council chairman Dr Andrew Wheatley says he does not see it as relevant to the Council's business.
Klansman gang is one of the two criminal outfits in Spanish Town which for years have been involved in a bloody feud for control of the extortion racket in the former Jamaican capital. The other is the One Order gang, which supports the opposition Jamaica Labour Party.
Mayor Wheatley said the matter was not one into which he wanted the Council to be drawn.
"It is not he (Lawrence) who is wanted, but his son, who is an adult," said the mayor.
"As a father and as a man, he has to deal with that. He is not delinquent in his duties as councillor. It doesn't concern the council," he said.
Lawrence told the party, said Campbell, that he has "not seen his son in months", and that he had never lived with his son, who was raised by his mother.
Author: Luke Douglas
Source: Jamaica Observer
