St Catherine businesswoman who fabricated Portmore gunpoint hold-up fined $1.5 million

A St Catherine businesswoman who admitted to making a false police report about being held up at gunpoint along the Hellshire main road in Portmore was today fined $1.5 million or six months' imprisonment.

Shenice Benjamin had pleaded guilty to creating public mischief.

During sentencing, Acting Parish Court Judge Janelle Nelson-Gayle told the woman that although she had pleaded guilty to the offence, it was an egregious act that she had committed, which resulted in the police responding to an "imaginary" crime.

Benjamin was then ordered to pay the fine or serve the six-month prison sentence.

The facts are that on March 4, 2026, Benjamin went to the Portmore Police Station and reported that she had gone to conduct business along the main road in Hellshire.

She alleged that two men approached on a motorcycle and that the pillion rider brandished a handgun, pointed it at her and squeezed the trigger, but the weapon did not fire.

Police detectives went to the reported crime scene, where closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the alleged incident was reviewed.

The services of technical personnel from the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Communication, Forensic and Cybercrime Division were employed, and their investigation revealed that the report was false.

Benjamin was subsequently arrested and charged with creating public mischief.

- Rasbert Turner

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