Veteran reggae singer Jah Cure has been sentenced to six years in prison in the Netherlands for attempted manslaughter.
It’s Cure again! Must be the very first thing that comes to mind when ladies hear his name. He is a lady’s man. And he makes music for the ladies.
In 1998, the distinguished singer was sentenced to 13 years in prison for raping and robbing a woman at gunpoint. He served 8 years and during the last leg of his sentence, the singer’s popularity skyrocketed following the release of his hit singles.
Cure was sentenced to six years in prison – with credit for time served – for attempted manslaughter. The court found him not guilty of attempted murder. His claim of self-defense was rejected by the court.
The stabbing
The Prison Walls singer, who might do a part two of the song, stabbed event promoter Nicardo ‘Papa’ Blake, 45, on October 1 at Dam Square, in the city center of Amsterdam, where he was booked for a performance. Cure had performed at Blake’s concert, two days before. However, he had not been paid his performance fee of 5,000 euros.
Prosecutors had demanded that the Jamaican singer be sentenced to eight years, with time served, for attempted murder and assault. However, Jah Cure‘s lawyer Tim Scheffer argued that the incident was self-defense. And that it was never the singer’s intention to stab the concert promoter in the first place. Scheffer had also told the court that the threatening messages that Jah Cure sent prior to the stabbing were “part of the Jamaican reggae culture,”.
So on Tuesday 22nd, the panel of three judges rejected Cure’s claim of self-defense. But ruled in his favor that it was not a premeditated act of attempted murder. “There is still too little evidence for a preconceived plan to take the victim’s life,” one judge said.
The court today described the incident as an “apparently fairly trivial conflict” which Jah Cure ‘blew up and escalated’.
The judge ruled that such a stabbing incident in broad daylight in a busy place such as Dam Square does give the victim and society a great sense of insecurity.
appeal the decision
Both the 43-year old man and the prosecutor can appeal to the Court of Appeal within two weeks if they disagree with the court’s ruling.
Before his arrest, he had announced that he was adding the final touches to a new album, titled Undeniable.
So long, Cure. So long.