Superintendent of Police Harry 'Bungles' Daley speaks with journalists moments after the guilty verdict was read at the Half-Way Tree Resident Magistrate's Court in St Andrew yesterday. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Freelance Photographer

Well-known senior policeman, Harry 'Bungles' Daley, was yesterday slapped with a guilty verdict on a corruption charge in the Half-Way Tree Resident Magistrate's Court.

The 31-year veteran police officer, who for the past year has been engaged in a battle for his freedom, was yesterday sentenced to 18 months in prison by Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey.

The verdict was handed down in a crowded court room, pregnant with anticipation.

Detailed trial

The embattled crime-fighter, who until recently headed the St Catherine North Division, sat alone as Pusey presented an hour-long summation detailing every aspect of the trial.

His expression never changed even when Pusey ordered him to stand for the verdict.

Pusey told the court that the case weighed heavily on the credibility of the evidence submitted in the course of the trial.

She asserted that, on the basis of several factors, she accepted as credible the evidence presented by the complainant, Tafari Clarke, although he was graphically depicted as a convict who was deported from the United Kingdom to Jamaica, desperately employing schemes to leave the island.

Prior to his return to Jamaica, Clarke had been sentenced to five years in the UK on criminal charges but served less, after which he was deported.

Audio recording

Pusey said Clarke's evidence was supported by the audio recording of Daley's arrest.

When the verdict was handed down, Daley's attorney Valerie Neita-Robertson appealed for leniency.

She asked the resident magistrate not to send Daley to prison as this was his first conviction.

However, the request was denied by Pusey, who said the breach of Section 14 of the Corruption Prevention Act was too grave, as the senior policeman had flagrantly abused his position.

"To my mind, it (non-custodial sentence) cannot be adequate punishment," Pusey asserted before sentencing him to 18 months in prison.

However, Neita-Robertson served notice of her intention to appeal and asked the court to extend Daley's bail on this basis.

Pusey obliged and Daley was allowed to walk from the court, pending the outcome of the appeal.

"I am an innocent man," Daley declared while speaking to journalists outside the courtroom after his conviction."How is that a lie can be influencing something to the extent that it does against me?"

In reacting to the judgment, Owen Ellington, acting commissioner of police, said, "The verdict of guilty is a clear demonstration of the will and courage of the JCF to go after corrupt police officers, no matter the rank involved."

The court was told that Daley used his authority to bully Clarke into paying him $20,000 monthly as protection money from a man called Terry.

Clarke was said to be paying protection money for a plaza in Ewarton, St Catherine.

Pusey dismissed Daley's vehement denial that he had been engaged in bribery.

Daley claimed the funds he collected was a loan owed to him by Clarke's uncle, who is now deceased.

Swooped down

Equipped with tapes from audio and visual technology placed on Clarke's body, investigators swooped down on Daley in July 2007, in a covert operation as he was reportedly about to accept the so-called protection money.

A conversation between Clarke and Daley was recorded before $15,000 was exchanged.

Pusey was at pains to point out that at no time during the trial was the defence prevented or hampered from presenting their witnesses and evidence.

She said some of the defence's evidence appeared to be manufactured, and was dismissive of Daley's claims that he was confused when confronted by policemen with high-powered weapons in the presence of his 14-year-old daughter on the day of his arrest.

Daley still has similar charges against him pending in the St Catherine Criminal Court.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com