Two to face military court for missing M16s

TWO MEMBERS of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) are to face disciplinary charges over the disappearance of two M16 rifles.

Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Rocky Meade, said the weapons have still not been found.

He was speaking at a Jamaica House briefing yesterday morning as states of emergency were announced in the Kingston Central and Kingston Western police divisions.

There was a lockdown of Up Park Camp, the JDF’s headquarters, for several hours on February 15 to recover the weapons after an anomaly was identified in the armoury.

“We have advanced our investigation to the point where we have two persons that will be facing our internal disciplinary procedures shortly,” Meade said, disclosing that the help of the police has been sought to trace the weapons.

The chief of defence staff did not give details on charges laid on the military personnel or reveal their identities.

“I wouldn’t be able to go into details, obviously, because it is a judicial-type system that we also have internally,” he said.

The JDF had said that it would review its weapons protocol after Corporal Doran McKenzie, who worked in the armoury, allegedly removed a weapon illegally that was later used to kill his girlfriend, Suianne Easy, at their Greater Portmore, St Catherine, home in January.

The soldier then killed himself.