A policeman, who allegedly gave untrue statements about an ammunition seizure case was chastised by the court just before the accused man was freed of charges against him on Monday.

Twenty-five-year-old labourer Nico Hines of Grants Pen in St. Andrew was freed of illegal possession of 51 rounds of ammunition after a policeman admitted under cross-examination that he had lied in entries he made in the station diary about the case.

The police was severely criticised by the trial judge in the Gun Court in Kingston.

On Monday, the policeman testified that in April, during a raid at the premises where Hines resided, the ammunition was allegedly found in the ceiling of a bedroom.

The cop also said a magazine casing was allegedly found in another section of the ceiling after an additional search was conducted.

Under cross-examination, defense lawyer Peter Champagnie challenged the policeman about entries he made in the station diary.

It was stated in the entries that the magazine casing was found in a tenement yard, near a fowl coop.

It was noted in another diary entry that the casing was found buried in the yard.

When pressed further by Champagnie as to whether the entries in the diary were true, the policeman reportedly said they were untrue.

The cop said he was forced by another policeman to make the false entries.

Questioned further by Champagnie as to whether he would agree that knowingly making a false entry in a station diary was dishonest, the cop agreed.

The accused man, Hines, had maintained his innocence since his arrest.

Hines claimed that the police found the ammunition and magazine casing and that he knew nothing about them.

Justice Vaughn Smith, in upholding the call by the defense for the case to be dropped, remarked that the policeman’s evidence was left in tatters at the end of the cross-examination.

The judge said what occurred in court was an embarrassing moment for honest members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.