Maurice Whittingham, the detective corporal who has been implicated in an alleged multi-million-dollar cooking kidnapping and cooking oil theft in St Catherine last year, has had his case transferred to the Gun Court in downtown Kingston.
The decision was made when the 35-year-old lawman and his co-accused, 34-year-old Michael Daley of Grandison Avenue, Kingston 12, appeared in the St Catherine Parish Court on Friday.
The duo was charged with robbery with aggravation and kidnapping relative to the December 17, 2022 incident.
The lawman appeared in court in a wheelchair, due to reported mobility issues. Conflicting reports are that he suffered a stroke while in custody last month, but other reports are that he has spinal issues, which have caused him to be wheelchair-bound.
In court on Friday, Whittingham’s attorney pleaded with the presiding parish judge to have his client’s reporting days reduced, due to his ‘deteriorating health condition’.
Whittingham was subsequently ordered to report to the designated police station once per week.
His co-accused was remanded in police custody.
The case is to be heard in the Gun Court on March 30.
Reports are that about 9am on Saturday, December 17, 2022, the now accused men, along with another man, dressed in police paraphernalia, stopped the driver of an International truck that was transporting cooking oil in St Catherine.
The sidemen on the truck were blindfolded, bound and placed in the back of the truck.
The driver of the truck was placed in a Honda Fit motorcar that was being driven by one of the accused men.
The truck was then driven to an undisclosed location and emptied of its contents before being abandoned in a cemetery in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
The truck driver was also released in Spanish Town.
Quick action by the police led to the Honda Fit being intercepted with Whittingham and Daley aboard the unit.
Police paraphernalia and a service pistol and ammunition were also seized.
Both men were charged following a ruling from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP).
