Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

DPP Kent Pantry ... has a reputation for showing who's the boss. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

DURING her testimony at the coroner's inquest into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer, government forensic analyst Marcia Dunbar told the court that she named one of the packets of evidence she received from the police as 'WW'.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Kent Pantry seized the moment to show off his comedic skills: "You mean .com?" Coroner Patrick Murphy joined the impromptu skit: "It could also stand for World Wide Wrestling."

Such banter has been rare at the Woolmer inquest which began October 16 at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston. For a moment, many in the room saw Kent Pantry in a different light.

Presented crown's case

Pantry has vigorously presented the Crown's case. On the second and third days of the inquest, he locked horns with Dr. Nathaniel Cary, the British pathologist, who has challenged government pathologist Dr. Ere Seshaiah's analysis that Woolmer was murdered in his room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel either on March 17 or 18.

His aggression has since simmered, but to those who know Kent Pantry well, he will argue his case relentlessly to the end.

Mr. Pantry has not enjoyed much flattery since assuming the DPP post in 1998, succeeding Glen Andrade. His tenure has been marred by clashes with the media, human rights groups and staff at his own office.

Probably no DPP has been vilified or handled as many high-profile cases as the 59-year-old Kent Pantry, a Kingston College 'old boy' who has been practising law since 1976. These include the Michael Gayle incident; the Operation PRIDE scandal at the National Housing Development Corporation; the Janice Allen case; and the shooting of four persons by a police squad at a house in Kraal, Clarendon.

Mr. Pantry has sparred bitterly with local human rights group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) on the Michael Gayle issue. In March 2000 he ruled that no one should be held responsible for the August 1999 death of the mentallychallenged man.

In January 2006, during a speech to the Rotary Club of Kingston, Mr. Pantry lay into JFJ head, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, accusing her of misrepresenting facts surrounding the Gayle case. He accused human rights organisations of making his job even tougher.

Susan Goffe, chairperson of JFJ, told The Gleaner that the icy relationship between the group and Mr. Pantry has not thawed.

"From early we have had problems with the DPP and we continue to have concerns," Mrs. Goffe said. "The issue of accountability, whether by the incumbent or his successor, is one we have to deal with."

Differences with colleagues

There have been differences as well with colleagues at the office of the DPP. The most acrimonious came in April 2004 when the Advocates Association of Jamaica strongly criticised Mr. Pantry for blaming a prosecutor at his office for a 'foul-up' with the Allen case. One month earlier, Mr. Pantry ruled that Corporal Rohan Allen be freed for the teenager's April 2000 death. There was no evidence to convict him, he said.

Mr. Pantry was appointed DPP after doing the legal rounds. He served as a Clerk of the Court, Crown Counsel, Assistant DPP, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Senior Deputy Director.

The situation at the DPP was far from ideal. There was a backlog of cases and 20 persons resigned from the office between 1998 and 2002. Most of them cited little scope for promotion as their reason for leaving. Mr. Pantry blamed the exodus of staff at the prosecutor's office on low salary.

"The effect of this anomaly is that it encourages crown counsel not to aspire to be an assistant director of public prosecutions, when he/she could opt to be a resident magistrate and obtain a more substantial salary than his/her seniors," he noted in a report.

His stint at the DPP, which reportedly ends this year, has not been all controversy. Mr. Pantry has listed several proposals to improve the effectiveness of his office, proposals he believes would help reduce crime. These include allowing prosecutors to appeal acquittal verdicts.

Currently, they cannot, and he said this must not be considered justice. Mr. Pantry has also suggested that preliminary inquiries be abolished as they hamper efficiency in getting trials under way and place witnesses in unnecessary danger.

Pantry's titbits

Is cousin to Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

Graduated from Kingston College in 1967.

Is rated by colleagues as a top-class 'mental domino' player.

Is a respected painter.