(Jamaica Observer) The origin of one of the documents Peta-Gay Ffrench presented at the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) in Twickenham Park, St Catherine, when she attempted to register a stolen baby last month, will determine whether another person is charged in the matter.
When the case was called up in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday, the baby’s Child Health and Development Passport and Ffrench’s ID were not on the prosecution’s file.
The court was subsequently told that the passport was not submitted since the police are still trying to ascertain how Ffrench came by the document that is designed to track a child’s growth and development up to 17 years of age.
The passport, which contains the weight of the baby, the name of the mother, the date of birth of the child, among other details, is normally issued to the mother at hospital after she gives birth.
The fact that Ffrench was reportedly able to provide the document at RGD, purporting to be the mother of the baby boy who was snatched from Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kngston, piqued Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell’s curiosity.
“If relevant, somebody else is to join her in the dock,” Burrell said, adding that it would affect the committal hearing.
The court was subsequently told that the police are close to completing their investigation.
Ffrench’s attorney, Rachel Donaldson, told the court that she wasn’t aware of the latest development and that she was trying to finalise a bail application date with the clerk of the court, because she was concerned about the length of time the investigation will take.
Burrell told Donaldson that she had set a timetable at the last court appearance.
The judge told the court that the two items that are not yet in the court’s hands are potential exhibits.
Ffrench, 27, who has been charged with child stealing, is to reappear in court on April 18, at which time the committal bundle is expected to be served.
The baby boy, who was snatched from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital on January 9 when he was just a day old, has, since Ffrench’s arrest, been reunited with his parents.