Botanist accused of plotting to kill wife gets bail
May 11, 2006
DR George Proctor, the 86-year-old botanist who has been charged by the police for allegedly putting out an $80,000 hit on his 66-year-old wife, was yesterday granted bail in the sum of $1.5 million when he appeared in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate's Court.
He was ordered to surrender his travel documents to the police.
Proctor's co-accused Glenmore Fellington was, however, remanded in custody. Both will return to court on June 27 when a preliminary inquiry will be held.
Attorney-at-law Tom Tavares-Finson, who represented Proctor, told the court that his client should be given bail since the prosecution's case could not be prejudiced as the case has now reached the stage of a preliminary inquiry.
Tavares-Finson, in reference to the prosecution's allegations that Fellington had threatened one of the main witnesses, maintained that his client was not involved, and pointed out that the investigating officer had told the court that there was no information connecting Proctor to the threat.
In spite of Tavares-Finson's arguments, however, presiding magistrate Judith Pusey decided to grant Proctor bail on the grounds of his poor health.
"Very reluctantly and primarily because of the state of his health, I'm going to grant him bail. The only reason I'm granting him bail is because he is a sick man," RM Pusey said.
Proctor, the court was told during a prior hearing of the matter, is diabetic and suffers from an acute case of glaucoma.
Fellington, who did not have legal representation in yesterday's hearing of the matter, was instructed by Pusey that his lawyer could make a bail application on his behalf on another occasion.
Author: Vaughn Davis
Source: Jamaica Observer
