Statement of accused Aziza Clarke read into evidence

The lead investigator in the trial of Aziza Kebret Tsgaye Clarke continued giving evidence on Monday, reading into the record the statement of the accused.

The former calypso monarch, of Bonnetts, Brittons Hill, St Michael, is charged that knowing or believing that Hakeem Stuart had committed murder, she assisted him by transporting him from Briar Hall to Graeme Hall, Christ Church, on March 21, 2019, to prevent his arrest.

Taking the witness stand again in the No. 5 Supreme Court before a nine-member jury and Justice Pamela Beckles, Sergeant Veronica Carrington said the statement had been made to police on March 22, 2019.

In the account, Clake said she owned a red Mazda 3, which she had won at the 2016 calypso finals and received the following year. The vehicle had been comprehensively insured, but as it was her first car, she was unsure of “the procedures to keep it on the road”, saying that she never paid road tax after the first year, and the insurance lapsed in 2018 due to her no longer being able to afford the payments. Clarke said Stuart was close to one of her sisters and regarded as a family friend, and that she occasionally gave him rides.

On March 21, 2019, after Clarke returned home from exercising, she found Stuart there along with several other relatives. Sometime after 2 p.m., he called and asked if she could come for him. She was unsure when he had left the house. Clarke asked him where he was, and after he gave her directions, she “got up immediately, found my car keys and left the house”. Stuart called her twice more as she drove, the last time staying on the phone to direct her to his location. She said that she picked him up along the left side of the road in a bushy area, and he got into the backseat.

“He looked normal… I asked him if he was good and he told me ‘yes’. I told him that I was not familiar with the road and that he had to show me how to get back out. Hakeem did not tell me where he had come from or what he was doing in the area. I did not ask him. I have never collected Hakeem from this area before,” the statement continued.

It detailed that Stuart told her to drive straight, she ended up on the highway, and then said he wanted to go to ‘Sargeants’.

“I drove along the highway and was about to make the left turn towards Trans-Tech to head to Sargeants Village, when Hakeem told me to go around the roundabout. All this while, Hakeem was talking on his cell phone, but I was not paying attention to what he was saying. I am not sure if he made or received the call. I asked Hakeem if he wasn’t sure where he was going because it was easier to get to Sargeant’s Village from that area, but Hakeem just said ‘keep straight on the highway’. As I approached the roundabout above Top Rock, I heard sirens, and I looked into the rearview mirror and saw two cars were behind, along with a traffic police and a motorcyclist. Hakeem asked ‘Who he turn on those sirens for?’ and I told him that ‘I did not know, but I hope not me because I did not have my insurance or driver’s licence on me’,” the statement continued.

The police sergeant read that in the document, Clarke stated that she pulled slightly to the left and continued driving as it did not appear that the officer was following her. She noticed that the police were right behind her, and she did not stop driving.

The statement continued: “I made a left going in the direction of the Top Rock roundabout and then made another left into a development in the area of Graeme Hall. I continued driving, when I made a left turn thinking it was a road. I ended up on a slight slope, which appeared to be a dead end. I went to put the vehicle in reverse, and Hakeem opened the door and jumped out of the vehicle,” the police sergeant read.  “He started to run, and I ask him ‘Why you running?’ but he did not answer me. He continued down through the bushy area and disappeared…I went to reverse the car, and at the same time, I saw the police who had been on the motorcycle now on foot, and he was talking on his radio, saying something about a suspect. He told me ‘Ma’am, stop the car’ but I was afraid and kept driving. The police officer moved out of the road to avoid getting hit. I kept on going. I again heard the siren behind me and looked and saw that it was the same officer on the motorcycle. I eventually stopped the car. The police was running coming towards me, and the same time, I was getting out of the car.”

It detailed that the officer held onto Clarke’s hand, struck her face, grabbed her hair and tried to put handcuffs on her as she struggled while screaming for ‘help’. He told her she was under arrest and she said ‘Ok don’t put your hands on me anymore because you are a man’ and a short while after, other officers in plain clothes arrived, and she was taken to Oistins Police Station.

“While at the police station, I learnt that a man had been shot in Sheraton Centre. I did not know who the person is that was shot. I was not involved in arranging to help any person shoot the man at Sheraton or transferring any person after the shooting incident,” the statement concluded.

Senior State Counsel Kevin Forde is prosecuting along with Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney, while King’s Counsel Michael Lashley represents Clarke, along with Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens and attorneys Sade Harris and Brittany Browne.

The trial was adjourned until January 5, 2026.