The Director of Public Prosecutions Office (DPPO) issued a press release on Wednesday, July 8^th indicating that steps are being taken to discontinue the criminal proceedings issued against eight members of the Kollision Band in St. Kitts, who were charged by police on Tuesday July 7^th, 2026 with playing music on a public road without the required police permission.

The release included “the Royal Saint Christopher and Nevis Police Force has the important responsibility of maintaining peace, good order and public safety throughout the Federation. In carrying out that responsibility, the Police are required to enforce the law and, where offences are committed, particularly where lawful police directives are not complied with, they have both the authority and the duty to investigate and, where appropriate, to lay criminal charges. Compliance with the laws of the Federation and with lawful directions given by police officers is essential to maintaining a safe, orderly and peaceful society.”

“Similarly, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) exercises an independent constitutional function in determining whether criminal proceedings should continue. In every case, the Director must consider not only whether there is sufficient evidence to support a prosecution, but also whether proceeding with the matter is in the public interest.

Having carefully reviewed the circumstances of this matter, including the context in which the alleged offence occurred, the DPP has concluded that it is not in the public interest for these proceedings to continue. In reaching that decision, the following considerations were taken into account and included:

The alleged offence is regulatory in nature and did not involve violence or any threat to public safety and the surrounding circumstances of the incident were carefully considered in assessing whether a criminal prosecution was the most appropriate response.

Prior to this decision, the police formally charged the Kollision Band Members for the offence of playing noisy instruments without a Licence.

The charges stemmed from an incident on May 20^th 2026, during which they allegedly played noisy instruments during a funeral procession without the required licence.

The persons charged are Erickson Williams Jr. of Carifesta Village; Jason Kyte of Greenlands; Travis James of Finnes Avenue; Terrance Richards of St. Paul’s; Jahvian Barrett of Craddock Road, Nevis; Vern Pemberton of Ponds Extension; and Travis Thompson of Gingerland, Nevis.

The procession was for the late Jermaine “Chubby” Clarke, who was gunned down in April and was also the lead singer for Kollision Band.

The Kollision band performed while Chubby’s body was being transported to the cemetery on May 20^th. Lawmen at the time said this was not allowed. They were arrested and formally charged on warrants in the first instance on July 7^th (almost seven weeks later).