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Witness number 1, the second ex-member of the St Catherine-based Klansman gang to take the stand in the ongoing trial of 33 accused members of that outfit, yesterday claimed that his decision to work with the police to bring down the gang helped stop a lot of planned bloodshed in the old capital.The witness was addressing trial judge Chief Justice Bryan Sykes who had intervened with questions while he was being cross-examined by attorney for Kevaughn Green, the brother of alleged gang leader Andre "Blackman" Bryan."We did a lot of operations that saved a lot of lives," the witness declared. Under probing from the trial judge as to his reasons for approaching the police in the first place and the intent behind the statements he had given, the witness said he made the disclosures with the understanding that he was telling the truth about the operations of the gang "both past and what was about to take place"."We did a lot of operations that saved a lot of lives as well," he reiterated, telling the judge that in his statements he had spoken about the roles of the various gang members and also named those who were appointed by the gang leader to control various communities.Earlier this month the witness, who is the second to take the stand in the trial which began in September, said he had helped investigators get guns and ammunition from the hands of the gangsters without their knowing that he had switched allegiance.He told the court that he had approached police investigators to oust the gang in 2018 while Bryan was behind bars. He said initially investigators had disbelieved when he told them that Bryan, who was then incarcerated, had called him from a private number from the confines of the prison. He said that while still in their presence he again received a call from Bryan and put the phone on speaker so they could hear Bryan speaking to him for themselves, at which point they realised he had not lied.The witness, who professes to have been a top-tier member of the criminal organisation, told the court how he duped the gangsters, at one point taking a Counter Terrorism & Organised Crime (CTOC) officer right into their presence to collect a gun and bullets, telling them the cop was his uncle.That was the second time he was handing over a gun to the CTOC investigator, he told the court. The first instance was in 2019 when Bryan had a gun he said he wanted fixed.He said normally the accused Dwyane Salmon, also called Chemist, would be the one to fix the guns, but this time Chemist had refused to come to Spanish Town because it was under a state of emergency."I asked Blackman permission to take the gun to Chemist and he give me permission," the witness. He said when he collected the gun, which was wrapped in a sheet, and placed in the trunk of his car, he called the CTOC investigator who told him to meet him in Portmore. He said he turned the gun over there. The witness, who also said he was forced to join the gang by Bryan in 2016, testified that in 2017 he tried to approach the police but backed off because he had been overcome by fear.- Alicia Dunkley-Willis