Man freed in JUTC fuel theft case after prosecution fails to link him to crime
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A man whom police had identified as the alleged mastermind behind a fuel theft ring at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) was freed Monday after the prosecution admitted that there was no evidence linking him to the crime.
St Catherine Parish Court Judge Courtney Maxwell issued a no-order ruling, citing insufficient evidence.
Patrick Malabre, who was charged with simple larceny, was then told he was free to go.
He had maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings.
The allegations are that in 2025, a driver, was arrested along Chesterfield Drive in St Andrew in connection with the siphoning of 157.6 litres of petrol, valued at approximately $28,000, from a JUTC bus.
Detectives assigned to the now-defunct Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch conducted investigations which led to Malabre being identified as the alleged mastermind behind the scheme.
On April 18, 2025, police carried out an operation at Malabre’s premises in St Catherine, where he was arrested and subsequently charged.
- Rasbert Turner
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