Beenie Man to stand trial on April 19

Dancehall artiste Beenie Man pleaded not guilty to charges of breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) and the Noise Abatement Act, when he appeared before the St Elizabeth Parish Court in Black River on Wednesday morning.

The entertainer, given name Moses Davis, appeared in court about 11:45 a.m., where his attorney, Roderick Gordon, told presiding judge Justice Natasha Hylton that he needed more time to familiarise himself with one of the charges. Gordon later told THE STAR that Beenie Man's team only sent one summons to the legal team.

"This morning when I got to court and asked to see the court files, I discovered that there was a second summons. The clerk assured me that it was also served on Mr Davis, so we did not have any issue with that," he said. Beenie Man had his bail extended until April 19, when he is to return for trial.

The artiste, 47, was charged by the Black River police last December, for allegedly hosting an illegal party at a location in Shrewsbury district, St Elizabeth, on Sunday, November 29. He was charged in late December 2020.

Following their brief appearance in court on Wednesday, Gordon clarified that as it relates to the November incident, his client was charged with failing to obtain permission from the superintendent, contrary to the Noise Abatement Act, and for breaching the COVID-19 curfew, a breach of the DRMA.

This is not the first time that the entertainer has been the centre of attention as it relates to aspects of the DRMA. Last year, he was chastised on social media for hosting a birthday party in which various videos showed very few guests wearing masks. He also hosted a nine-night for his mother, which was shut down by the police as it exceeded the gathering limit. However, the deejay was never charged with an offence in either incident.