Prosecutor objects to bail for accused

The public officer charged in the wake of the death of a toddler last week was remanded to HMP Dodds after he appeared in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Arguments for and against granting bail to John Fitzgerald Russell were so spirited that the investigating police officer was summoned to the witness stand.
Russell, 50, of Dolphin Park, St Patrick’s, Christ Church, was not required to plead to unlawfully killing Joshua Boyce on Friday. Boyce, who was two years old, died yards from his home at 4th Avenue, Skeete’s Road, The Ivy, St Michael.
The prosecutor, Sergeant Peter Barrow, objected to Russell being released, citing the seriousness and nature of the charge. He explained that investigations had not yet been completed and someone else was still being sou  the case.
In addition, the prosecutor said there had been “an outburst” from people in the area where Boyce lived about the way in which the toddler died.