Police Return George Nooks’ Mercedez Benz

Despite seeing his luxury motor vehicle being returned to him, veteran reggae crooner George Nooks is seemingly upset with how things went down following his most recent run-in with the law.

His lawyers indicate that while Nooks is happy to see the return of his Mercedezz Benz GL 450 luxury SUV, they take issue that it was taken in the first place.  “They had no need to take the vehicle,” attorney Donahue Martin told the Jamaica Observer.

The vehicle was seized on October 22 this year as part of investigations following his arrest on drug charges. The Benz was subsequently returned to the Tribal War artist on October 28 after it was searched by the police in the presence of his attorneys.

The attorneys had initially filed an application for the vehicle’s return, that was set to be heard on November 4th, but it’s earlier than expected release prompted them to go to court and withdraw the application.

Reports are that the ‘God is Standing By’ singer was arrested by the narcotics police in April 2019 after it is alleged that Nooks ingested “some substance” after being accosted by the police in Liguanea, St Andrew. He was then taken to Kingston Public Hospital for observation but apparently, no drugs were found and he was subsequently released.

However, just over two weeks ago, he was again detained by the police following a ruling by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution and charged for cocaine possession and attempting to pervert the course of justice. He subsequently pled not guilty upon his court appearance in October of this year to which he was offered bail in the sum of $300,000 and is now set to return to court on January 13th next year.

The lawyers for the God is Standing By singer also indicate that they “take issue with a lot of the circumstances of his arrest and subsequent detention”. Nooks they note even performed at the funeral for the late police Superintendent Leon Clunis, despite allegations that he made himself unavailable to the authorities.

This is not Nooks’ first run-in with the law on drug charges. In 2017 he was arrested and charged. Police reported at the time that lawmen were working in St Andrew when they observed Nooks acting in a manner that aroused their suspicion. The cops reported that Nooks was accosted and a bag he was carrying searched; the bag reportedly was found to contain just under two ounces of cocaine.

However, he was freed of the charges in May with his lawyers disclosing that the presiding judge had said that there were several inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case and, as a consequence, Nooks was found not guilty. They have indicated that their client, Nooks, is of the view that he’s being unfairly targeted by members of the Narcotics Division.

Nooks was the proteje of late reggae great Dennis Brown and emerged initially as a deejay under the stage name of Prince Mohammed. He is known for hits such as Forty Leg Dread, Tribal War, Bridge Over Troubled Waters and God is Standing By. He was also featured on the JC Lodge hit Someone Loves You Honey which became the top-selling single in the Netherlands in 1982.