Robbers found guilty again

(CNS): Four men charged with the broad daylight heist at the Buckingham Square branch of Cayman National Bank in June 2012 were found guilty by a jury Friday after a six-week long retrial. David Tamasa, Rennie Cole, George Mignot and Andre Burton were all convicted of robbery and possession of an unlicensed firearm for the second time and remanded in custody until their sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

The men were acquitted of the original convictions in April 2013 by the Court of Appeal last year as a result of a technicality regarding directions over their decisions not to give evidence and a retrial was ordered. Nevertheless, the men decided again not to give evidence.

Despite the increasingly controversial evidence of the crown’s key witness, Marlon Dillon, a.k.a. ‘Supergrass’, and the judge’s clear direction that they must find supporting evidence for Dillon and could not convict on his word alone, the members of the jury were convinced that telephone and other circumstantial evidence supported the claims of the defendants’ accuser.

There was quiet in the courtroom as the verdicts were delivered and the four convicted men made no comment before they were remanded back into custody.

Although each of the defendants was said to have a very different role in the heist, they were all charged and convicted of robbery and possession of an imitation firearm as a result of a joint enterprise.

Tamasa was accused by Dillon of being the orchestrator and the man who supplied the guns. Aside from the allegations from Dillon, who described Tamasa as a friend, the only other support for his part in the heist came from telephone calls between the men before and after the heist.

George Mignot was said to be one of two armed men who entered the bank with a shotgun. He then ordered customers and guards on to the floor and kept control of the bank while others took the money. Dillon’s claim that Mignot was involved was supported by telephone contact, his absence from work on the day, and DNA on a hat found in Dillon’s car.

Andre Burton, who is already serving an eleven year sentence for his part in the WestStar robbery — a conviction upheld on appeal — was accused of being the getaway driver. Burton was an admitted associate of Dillon’s and connected to the alleged gang via telephone records. He was also absent from work at the time of the robbery.

Cole, who was accused of being the bait-man tasked with distracting the security guard at the bank’s door to pave the way for the entry of the robbers, was the only robber not known to Dillon but he was connected to the gang by a fifth man, Ryan Edwards, who was also convicted in the original trial and whose appeal against that conviction failed.

Dillon, the crown’s key witness, was sentenced to three years for his part in both the CNB robbery and the connected WestStar robbery but was released recently. He continues to battle with the authorities over his status as a protected witness and, more recently, his immigration status.

The men will be sentenced on Wednesday by Justice Ingrid Mangatal.