Popular dancehall deejay Skeng is expected to return to court to answer charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest on March 9, 2023.
The date will give his defense team enough time to review the raw footage of what transpired at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston in May 2022, which led to the charges mentioned above. At that time, he was removed from a flight following an alleged altercation with a port authority officer.
The “Protocol” singer was present at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Half-Way-Tree yesterday, November 7, to hear the decision. His attorney, Christopher Townsend, spoke with the Jamaica Observer and said that the prosecution was ordered to present his team with the raw footage in question.
He also disclosed that his team was presented with an edited version of the encounter, which only painted Skeng, who recently released his debut EP, Beast of the Era, last week, as the aggressor. Townsend also said the footage did not show when the “Gunman Shift” deejay was pepper sprayed.
Townsend said that his team was very concerned that the version they saw never showed the artist being pepper sprayed and that following professional analysis of the video, they discovered that it had been edited.
“We went back to court and made a complaint. They conceded to the fact that it was edited and the prosecution was ordered to give the raw version. I’m not sure why they edited it, but we want the true version,” the attorney-at-law added.
Police reports emerging after the incident stated that Skeng was involved in a confrontation with officials at the NMIA around 1:50 pm in May 2022. The reports further stated that the “Street Cred” artist was allegedly pepper sprayed by the police as he was attempting to board a flight to Trinidad.
Skeng, whose real name is Kevaun Douglas, was scheduled to headline an event dubbed the Revival Return Of Dancehall on May 28. Following the charges, he was granted JM $50,000 bail.
