ALLEGED SCAMMER HURT IN CAR CRASH

Arrangements are now being made for accused lottery scammer Alrick McLeod to get medical attention after the court heard on Tuesday that he met in an accident while being transported to his last court hearing.

McLeod, also known as 'Birdman' and 'Z-Bird', wore a neck brace and walked gingerly when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court. Attorney Tom Tavares-Finson, who is representing the 30-year-old car wash operator, told the court that the government vehicle which was transporting his client from the Gun Court lock-up to the court on October 5, met in an accident at the intersection of Trafalgar and Hope roads in Kingston.

Tavares-Finson said his client was still taken to court after the accident as the police said he did not indicate that he was injured. However, upon consulting with McLeod on the evening of the accident, Tavares-Finson said his client complained of being severely distressed, so he made arrangements for him to visit a clinic the following day.

"At the clinic, he was told he needs to do an X-ray and a magnetic resonance imaging scan, and he was given a neck brace and returned to lock-up, [but] the medical treatment ended there," Tavares-Finson explained, adding that his client has now developed tingling sensations in his arm and lower regions.

"I watch enough TV to know that's not a good sign," he asserted. "If the State takes a citizen into custody, he cannot take care of his basic needs. You have taken away his right to do so, so the State must fulfil its obligation."

Upon hearing Tavares-Finson's application, the presiding judge ordered that McLeod's medical card be endorsed so that he can receive medical attention as soon as possible.

McLeod is among nine persons now before the courts on a United States extradition hearing on allegations that he and his co-conspirators ran a lottery scam in Jamaica in which they conned elderly victims in the US out of millions of dollars by convincing them to send 'fees' for lottery winnings.