Former Police Commissioner Owen Ellington testified that Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke had escaped Tivoli Gardens through tunnels during the operation to apprehend him on May 24, 2010.
Ellington is testifying at the Tivoli Commission of Enquiry that is now under way in Kingston.
He said Coke or anyone could easily have escaped during what he described as “intense” firing and “chaos” at the time.
Meanwhile, Ellington said that the small number of guns found immediately, isn’t unusual, because the police were concerned about stabilising the community before commencing a search for weapon.
He said the day after the operation, May 25, he instructed the Bureau of Special Investigations to probe complaints by residents and fatal shootings.
A desk was set up to deal with complaints of abuse. He said he was satisfied by the BSI’s probe. He also said that 75 per cent of the weapons were tested and that none had matched bullets taken from bodies in Tivoli Gardens.
Paul Henry
How the Commissioner know if Dudus was even in Tivoli before the Operation. Maybe the coward left before the fighting even started.