'I prefer to die'

An elderly St Elizabeth man is appealing for the intervention of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck after a court ordered him to vacate land he has lived on for 41 years by Sunday, insisting that he is not a squatter.

A disheartened William Phillips, 75, said he has occupied the New Town, Black River, property since 1985, after his uncle, Artie Phillips, reportedly instructed him to take over the land, which had been neglected. He said the land originally belonged to his granduncle, Albert George Burton, and was passed down within the family, first to Artie Phillips, and later, to him.

“I’m not a squatter,” Phillips told The Gleaner. “This a family land, and it was given to one of the family.

“If my uncle didn’t give me the property, I would not be here. I wouldn’t capture. I’m not a squatter,” he reiterated.

Phillips said he was largely kept in the dark during court proceedings that culminated in an order to hand over the property to Harold Jones, who holds a registered title.

“Nobody didn’t ask me nothing. Nobody says nothing to me,” he said, adding that he believes the court system failed him.

Having been unable to reach his member of parliament, Phillips said he plans to travel to Kingston to appeal directly to Chuck.

“I want Mr Chuck to get in this,” he said, “because this is not justice.”

Phillips said his uncle sent for him in 1979 after the property became overgrown and neighbours complained about its condition. He returned from Kingston in 1980 and spent five years repairing the house, which had rotted flooring, damaged windows, and no functioning bathroom or kitchen, before moving in permanently in 1985.

Storm damage

The property has since sustained repeated storm damage, including from hurricanes Gilbert, Ivan, and Beryl, and, most recently, Melissa, which destroyed the roof. Phillips said he and his wife now sleep under a section patched with donated zinc.

The elderly man supports his family by cutting lawns and operating a small car wash on the property. His wife, Nyral Phillips, 40, said the couple, who married in 2023, have two children, ages seven and nine, and no alternative housing ahead of the eviction deadline and the start of the new school term.

“We don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “School going to open September coming. We don’t have anywhere to go.”

Phillips and his wife said they had never seen Jones on the property before the dispute.

Jones, however, told The Gleaner that he purchased the land in 1992 from Mary Martin through a solicitor, Donald Smith, both of whom have since died. However, when pressed for details about how he acquired the land, he became reluctant and indicated that he had to go. He agreed to continue the conversation but did not respond to follow-up calls.

In a sworn affidavit filed in the court proceedings, however, Jones said Martin was executor of the estate of Vera Burton and that he bought the property from her in 1992.

He said he saw a “for sale” sign when he visited the property before completing the purchase and that Phillips was later allowed to occupy a concrete dwelling with his permission – a claim Phillips disputes.

Jones, who was living in England at the time, said he returned to Jamaica at least once a year, visited the property, and spoke with Phillips. He denied fraud and described himself as a bona fide purchaser. His supporting documents included death certificates, the agreement for sale, a transfer tax certificate, survey documents, an appraisal, and property tax receipts.

But Nyral said members of Martin’s family told Jones they knew nothing of the transaction and that Martin did not own land in St Elizabeth. Phillips said Martin left the parish as a teenager and owned property in Kingston.

Phillips said an earlier attempt by Jones to pursue the claim in 2008 did not proceed after an attorney reportedly advised that the case had no merit. The dispute resurfaced in 2024.

However, Phillips appeared in the initial proceedings without a lawyer, saying he could not afford one. He said he was pressured at one hearing to sign a document while his son was barred from the courtroom.

“I’m not signing it,” he recalled telling the court.

Ultimately, he signed what became a consent judgment but said that he did not understand what he was signing.

Phillips later learned about adverse possession, under which long-term, uncontested occupation of land can, in certain circumstances, support a claim to ownership. His attorneys subsequently raised the issue in the Court of Appeal.

Retired police officer Neville Morant, a family friend since 1989, corroborated Phillips’ long-term occupation.

He said he was “shocked out of his wit” when he learnt about the matter as everyone in the community knew that Phillips had been given the land by his uncle.

Phillips said he has also received support from a justice of the peace, a local clergyman, and other community members.

Jones, in the meantime, described the legal process as tedious.

“It is an uphill struggle,” he said. “It has drag on, and they keep on appealing.”

He also disputed Phillips’ account of how he came into possession of the property.

Despite the ruling, Phillips said he would not voluntarily leave.

“I prefer to die,” he said, referring to the prospect of leaving the home he has maintained for four decades.

“I have nowhere to go,” he said. “Especially again, the storm mashed up everywhere. Nowhere left down here for nobody.”

Asked how he felt about the situation, he said: “I feel upset, but I don’t want Bellevue to take me out.”

Nyral said the family has no alternative.

“I hope that the man just come off my husband,” she said, “and leave my husband and his property.”

Asked what plans the family had, she said: “We don’t have no plan and action because we don’t have nowhere else to go.”

Jones filed a claim in the St Elizabeth Parish Court in October 2024 seeking recovery of possession. A consent judgment was entered against Phillips on February 11, 2025. His application to set it aside was refused in January 2026, and the Court of Appeal refused a stay of execution in a ruling delivered on July 9, 2026.

Phillips has separately filed a Supreme Court claim alleging fraud and misrepresentation in Jones’ acquisition of the title and asserting a competing claim based on his longstanding occupation. The matter has not yet been determined, with a trial listed for March 2027.

Phillips’ attorneys argued that he had not truly consented to the 2025 judgment, having signed while unrepresented and without fully understanding his options, including an adverse-possession claim.

Jones’ attorneys argued that Phillips attended court several times, chose to represent himself, did not formally challenge the registered title, and voluntarily requested the time given to vacate.

In refusing the stay, the Court of Appeal noted that Phillips’ allegations of pressure or being misled were absent from his original application to set aside the judgment and appeared only in a later affidavit. The court found insufficient merit in the appeal to further delay Jones from taking possession.

Phillips was represented by Mark Paul Cowan and Houston Thompson, instructed by Nunes Scholefield Deleon & Company, while Jones was represented by Stacey Knight, instructed by Knight Junor & Samuels.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com