Source : Jamaica Gleaner
Stephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
Reggae artiste Jah Cure has been sentenced to six years in prison in The Netherlands for attempted manslaughter.
The sentence was handed down in a Dutch court a short while ago.
Jah Cure, 43, whose given name is Siccature Alcock, was charged in October in relation to a stabbing incident.
He had faced up to 15 years in prison.
In court, the reggae artiste had claimed self-defense but the Court of Amsterdam rejected his claim.
According to Frank Wattimena, press officer for the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, although the claim of self-defense was rejected, the court found Jah Cure, not guilty of attempted murder.
Last October, Jah Cure stabbed promoter Nicardo ‘Papa’ Blake in Dam Square in The Netherlands.
During a public hearing on March 8, the prosecution said Jah Cure’s action was premeditated, and that he intended to cause wounding and harm to Blake.
The stabbing followed an argument over money totalling $5000 Euros owed to the artiste by the promoter for a concert at which he performed in Melkweg.
The prosecutor had asked that Jah Cure be sentenced to no fewer than eight years.
This is not Jah Cure’s first run-in with the law.
On April 26, 1999, he was convicted on two counts of illegal possession of a firearm, rape and robbery with aggravation, for which he served eight years of a 15-year sentence.
Jah Cure was released in 2007 and gained popularity from singles ‘Longing For’ and ‘Prison Walls (Reflections)’ released while he was imprisoned.
In 2015, he was detained at a Port of Spain police station after being accused of taking payment for a performance for which he was a no-show.
His album, The Cure, was nominated for a Best Reggae Album Grammy Award the following year.
If Jah Cure, represented by attorney-at-law Tim Scheffer, and the prosecutor disagree with the court’s ruling, both can appeal to the Court of Appeal within two weeks