Ninja Man Spends Another Birthday Behind Bars

It has been close to two years since controversial deejay Desmond 'Ninjaman' Ballentine has been in prison without bail and it was his daughter's dream that last week Monday he would have been able to spend his birthday at home with family and friends. But that was not to be, and the celebrated Don Gorgon spent his 45th birthday cooped up behind bars, living as an inmate at the Horizon Remand Centre in Kingston.

Although his daughter, Samantha, aka Ninja Princess, is back in the land of her birth Switzerland, where she is going to school, the 18-year-old sent her mother, Joy, to visit her dad on his special day.

"I asked my mum to go visit him and she did. It's very hard for me being so far away, but I made sure to look for him before I left Jamaica at the start of January. I want to get him out of there ... it was painful to see my dad like that," Samantha said.

Reports had surfaced in the media that Ninjaman had been beaten, and according to Samantha's mother Joy, the deejay is having a rough time.

"I should be elsewhere but I am here because of Samantha. She loves her dad a lot and she is worried about him, so I am here just trying to do whatever I can to help Desmond. Ninja is a kind guy and he has given away a lot to people, but when he needs help where are these people?" Joy asked.

But Samantha remains hopeful that her father will get bail soon and one of the things she intends to do is a collaboration with him. She has already released a number of singles using her Ninja Princess moniker, with two of the more recent being Can't Touch Me and Don't Cry.

"It would be wonderful to do a song with my dad," the teenager said. "Although I am still in school, I am also focusing on my career. I recently completed a music video and things are looking up. If only my dad would be given bail," Ninja Princess said.

Ninjaman, who has been refused bail on numerous occasions, is charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, shooting with intent and illegal possession of a firearm in connection with the death of a 20-year-old man in March 2009.

He is charged jointly with his 20-year-old son and two others. He returns to court on February 11.

- Source : Jamaica Observer