Laden To Spend Another Weekend In Jail On Illegal Gun Charges

Embattled Dancehall deejay Laden will spend another weekend in jail as he is yet to secure bail through his attorney-at-law in the St Elizabeth Resident Magistrate Court in Santa Cruz.

“The judge has requested a social enquiry report and is also waiting for the ballistic report from the police which is important to see if the gun was involved in any other criminal acts. This may take anywhere between two to three weeks,” a source close to the case told DancehallMag.

Laden, whose given name is O’Keele Aaron, is facing a battery of charges including illegal possession of a firearm; illegal possession of ammunition; breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act, for being on the street after the islandwide 9:00 pm curfew; and, failing to stop on the request of the police.

The artiste’s attorney-at-law has previously said that Laden will be pleading not guilty to all charges, except breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act.

Due to restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the entertainer was not present at his first court date on November 3.

The two co-accused: 21-year-old Saaion Ebanks and his 16-year-old brother were granted bail in the sum of $500,000. Ebanks was granted bail on the condition that he reports to the Junction Police Station on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

According to the Corporate Communications Unit — the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s information arm — at about 10:40 pm on October 28, lawmen were in Cheapside, St Elizabeth, when they signaled the driver of a black Mercedes-Benz motor car to stop.