British child killed in Jamaica shooting

The North Coast Jamaican town of Duncans was left in distress on Friday evening after a shooting took place in a café leaving an eight-year-old British girl dead and a further three people hospitalised.

Imani Green of Balham in South London was shot twice, including once in the head, after an argument broke out in the café. She unfortunately passed away while receiving treatment in hospital.

The tragedy has rocked the quiet town of Duncan as any form of crime, let alone murder, is almost unheard of in the area. The town was reported to have the second lowest murder rate in Jamaica last year.

Peter Kellond, the British honorary consul for Montego Bay, told the BBC: “This is obviously a desperately sad event and we are providing consular support to the family and other relatives.”

The country’s national security minister, Peter Bunting, told newspaper The Jamaica Gleaner: “The senseless killing of a young, innocent child must outrage all well-thinking Jamaicans, and cause us to join our security forces in an intensified effort to rid our communities of criminals.”

The family is thought to have been staying with relatives since the end of last year. Imani suffered from Sickle Cell Anaemia and had been given permission from her school to take the extended holiday in the hope that warmer climates would aid her condition. The family were planning to come home by the end of January.

Ali Kirkby