Montego Bay service dispute lands woman in St James Parish Court

ST JAMES, Jamaica — What began as a complaint about poor service at a Montego Bay establishment has become a criminal prosecution, with the complainant putting the loss at more than $5.2 million (US$33,129).

Janice Lue, 34, of Mango Walk, St James, was before Judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday on a charge of malicious destruction of property. Attorney Henry McCurdy is acting for her.

Prosecutors say the clash grew out of service delivered at the Montego Bay premises on June 20. After the work was done, Lue left, then came back saying she was unhappy with the result. She asked for the business’s phone number, was given it, and departed again.

She later returned a further time, still unhappy, and asked for her money back, the court was told. When that request was turned down and staff offered to fix the problem instead, she is said to have grown angry.

According to the allegations, she then smashed a glass panel at the entrance with a chair. Damage is also said to have included a glass shelf, two nail table stations, a storage rack, six table stands and five lamps. Thirty nail polishes on display were allegedly taken down and shattered on the floor.

After the complainant outlined the scale of the loss, Judge Grant-Pryce made clear that any bid for that level of compensation belongs in the Supreme Court, because the figure sits beyond the Parish Court’s monetary limit.

“This court will offer no money in relation to anywhere near that figure,” Grant-Pryce told the complainant.

The judge also ruled out mediation given the size of the claim, directing that the file move forward only as a criminal matter in the Criminal Court, where Lue will face trial.

On her lawyer’s application she was allowed bail of $300,000, with as many as three sureties and reporting conditions. She must also hand over her travel documents. The case is listed again for September 23.