Barbaba Gayle, Justice Coordinator

KINGSTON, Jamaica:
A high court judge has granted bail to businessman, Christopher Kerr, after two resident magistrates denied applications on three previous occasions because of doubts over his identity.

Supreme Court judge, Courtney Daye, granted bail in the amount of $250,000 this afternoon following the application by Kerr’s attorney, Hugh Wildman.

Kerr, who has been in custody since July 1, is charged with four counts of forgery and two counts of uttering forged documents.

Resident Magistrates Judith Pusey and Kaysha Grant denied Kerr’s three previous attempts to get bail in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court.

The lower courts had ruled against bail, saying they were concerned about claims by prosecutors that he goes by more than one name and has no fixed address.

Prosecutors have claimed that Kerr has three birth certificates, three passports, two driver's licences and two sets of taxpayer registration numbers.

In addition, they say he is a Canadian citizen and the holder of a United States visa.

However, Wildman maintains that his client, who was born Donovan Watson Kerr, did a deed poll and changed his name to Christopher Watson-Kerr.

Kerr is scheduled to go on trial on August 12.

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