A St Mary mechanic, who police said shot at them when they tried to apprehend him last year for having a sexual encounter with a ten-year-old, will answer to the gun related charges in the St Mary Circuit Court in July.
He is Ian Blake also called Signie, a mechanic, from Highgate in the parish. Blake appeared before the St Mary Parish Court on Thursday, May 4.
The crown prosecutor revealed that the file was now complete and ready to be transferred for the next sitting of the circuit court.
As a result, senior parish judge Yvette Wentworth-Miller transferred the matter to be heard in the circuit court on July 3. Blake was further remanded into custody until that time.
Reports are that on April 19, 2016, Blake was seen in the Highgate area in the morning. It is reported he had been working on a car all morning, on Main Street.
In the afternoon police reportedly spotted Blake and tried to apprehend him. According to them, Blake drove away and was involved in an exchange of gunfire with the police. However, he escaped capture.
It was following that incident that police named Blake as “wanted” for shooting with intent and illegal possession of firearm.
The police had initially wanted Blake, who was said to be over 50, to question him on charges of grievous sexual assault after a report was made by a relative that he fondled a ten-year-old child in April of 2016.
That case is set for mention in July.
This alleged act left members of the Highgate community and surrounding areas in shock.
The girl was examined at the Port Maria Hospital and doctors later confirmed that no sexual penetration was evident. However, the police released Blake’s name as a person of interest.
The police finally held Ian Blake in a pre-dawn operation at his home in Highgate around 4:30 Wednesday morning, July 6, ending a near three-month game of hide-and-seek involving himself and the police.
He was later slapped with sex charges and for shooting at the police.
