Security guard abused power, says crown lawyer

Cayman Islands courthouse, George Town

(CNS): A security guard who stabbed a customer with a flick knife during an altercation at a George Town bar “abused his power”, the prosecuting attorney told the court Thursday, when Kenroy Rowe appeared before the court for a sentencing hearing. The Jamaican national is waiting to hear how long he will serve in jail after he stabbed Jose Sanchez in the chest at the Energy Bar in George Town last year.

Following a short trial last month, Rowe was found guilty by a jury of wounding with intent and remanded in custody to await sentence.

As crown counsel Toyin Salako outlined the details of the case and the aggravating factors for the court, she said that Rowe, who was on-duty at the Shedden Road bar, should have been keeping the patrons safe in his role as a guard but instead attacked Sanchez.

“People are entitled to believe when they go to a place where security officers are present they will keep them safe and deter any trouble and most definitely not to participate in it,” she said.

The victim’s wound was so severe that he almost bled to death but the court heard the quick action of a police officer who arrived on the scene and took Sanchez directly to the hospital saved his life.

Salako questioned whether Rowe was remorseful about his actions as a social enquiry report documented complaints that Rowe believed he did not get a fair trial and failed to see that his actions went far beyond self-defence. She also said Rowe had given the flick knife he used to stab Sanchez to another person to remove from the scene before the police arrived but this was picked up on the CCTV.

The lawyer pointed out that Rowe had confiscated the flick knife, which is an offensive weapon, from a customer to prevent it being used if a fight was to break out in the bar but he had then put it in his own pocket. So when the altercation with Sanchez and a third unidentified man at the door began, he pulled out the knife and went after Sanchez with it.

Salako urged the judge in the case, Justice Charles Quin, to consider Rowe’s crime in the most serious category when calculating his sentence and asked for a deportation order once the jail time was served.

Meanwhile, defence attorney John Furniss accepted that his client had no business using the knife but he argued that Rowe was provoked. His actions may not have been self-defense, Furniss said, as the jury had disagreed with Rowe’s position on that, but there was significant provocation. Furniss said that Rowe had been faced with not just Sanchez but the third man, who was shown on the CCTV to have aggravated the situation, and when he was pushed out of the bar by Rowe, he had slammed into Sanchez, who in turned punched Rowe in the jaw.

It was then that the security guard pulled out the flick knife and went after Sanchez, stabbing him just below the heart, all of which was caught on camera.

Furniss said the scuffle at the door and the aggressive attitude of the third man had driven Rowe to lose his patience. Things then went from bad to worse as Rowe was punched in the face by Sanchez and the unknown man went at him with an attempted kung-fu kick before Rowe pulled out the knife.

The defence lawyer argued that Rowe had not been properly trained about how to handle a physical altercation such as that, and while his senior colleague was present, he had done nothing to assist Rowe, who had gone too far but, Furniss argued, not without serious provocation.

Formally a man of good character with no criminal history, Rowe is a father of children in Jamaica and in a stable relationship with his girlfriend here, Furniss noted, saying his client was remorseful over his actions and recognized that he would pay a high price for an incident that lasted no more than 30 seconds.

After hearing from both the attorneys, Justice Charles Quin said he would reserve judgment in the case until next Thursday, 16 April, when he will deliver his sentencing ruling.