Skeng to Answer Disorderly Conduct Charge in Court

Kedean BrownNovember 7, 2022

Following his trial postponement over a month ago, popular dancehall artiste Skeng will return to court on Monday, November 7, 2022, to answer the charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Skeng, born Kevon Douglas, last appeared in court on September 8, and his bail was further extended along with those of his co-accused, Cara Wilson and Shaquille Kelly. The artiste was initially arrested on May 24 following an altercation with port security at the Norman Manley International Airport and the police who were called to the scene. An argument between Skeng and airport security arose while the entertainer was attempting to board his flight to Trinidad, where he was set to perform at an event on May 28.

The artiste was allegedly pepper sprayed by the police during the confrontation when he reportedly resisted arrest and was remanded but later granted bail.

Subsequent to Skeng’s case postponement in September, his legal representative, Christopher Townsend, shared with the Jamaica Observer that his team had not been provided with the required footage of the day’s events. According to Townsend, they were given video footage of the incident, but it had been edited, whereas they had wished for the raw footage. Speaking on the pepper spraying of his client, Townsend said they could not determine whether the pepper spray was warranted from the edited footage but would maintain that it was not, as the accused did nothing. The attorney went on to state that both sides involved in the incident could have handled the confrontation differently.

“in viewing the tape, I formed the opinion that the entire thing did not need to occur, and the persons who are in authority, who should exercise the degree of control in the area, did not do so, in my estimation. Tempers were flaring from both sides and got out of hand before the police even got there. So the police observation might be skewed not knowing the genesis of the problem… It could have been handled differently from both sides. Quite frankly, all persons should just apologise to each other because it was something that got out of hand and was never properly controlled,” Townsend stated.