Aidonia - file

Resident Magistrate Glen Brown has ordered that deejay 'Aidonia', born Sheldon Lawrence, be charged and brought before the Gun Court on Friday.

Lawrence has been in police custody since January 5, 2008 in connection with the shooting of a man on Saturday night.

The order was made following the hearing of an habeus corpus application filed by Valerie Neita-Robertson, Aidonia's lawyer. The application was made in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

She told the court that her client had spent several days in jail without being charged.

Neita-Robertson also denied her client's involvement in the shooting noting that he had been threatened by men who wanted him to give them money to pay a lawyer for a friend who had been charged with murder. She said Lawrence refused and as he left the scene he heard gunshots. She said that some eye witnesses claimed that the complainant was actually shot during crossfire with his friends.

She said he went to the police station that night and was taken into custody.

When RM Brown enquired from the investigating officer the reason for the delay in charging Lawrence and the other two men arrested along with him, he could not provide any reason for the delay, prompting the Resident Magistrate to ruling.

Allegations are that the incident, reportedly, occurred after a man had stabbed up a car belonging to either Aidonia or someone from his entourage.

Man shot

The police say two other men came on the scene shortly after and were thought to be the person(s) who had damaged the car. They were allegedly driven down and held by Aidonia and his entourage. The police say ,according to the information received, the men were cornered and a gun was pulled and they were beaten and one of them shot. The other man, reportedly, escaped, while the injured man was taken to hospital where he was admitted.

The man who managed to escape, Demar 'Demmy' Palmer, was, reportedly, shot and killed the following day. The other two men who were taken into custody with Lawrence are to face an identification parade next Wednesday and the matter involving them is to be mentioned in court on January 24.