Archive for July, 2015
Mother denies murdering child
(CNS): Tamara Butler pleaded not guilty Friday to the murder of her 6-year-old daughter, Bethany Butler, and will now face trial in February next year. Butler has denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility and the trial will focus on arguments regarding psychiatric opinions over the woman’s state of mind at the time she […]
Mistaken ID costs man five months jail for petty offence
(CNS): A West Bay man who has been in jail since February was given a two month sentence for attempted theft Thursday — three months less than the time he has already served after a case of mistaken identity saw him charged with carjacking. Kenoi McCarval Smith (23) had denied having anything to do with an […]
Report on legal review under wraps
(CNS): A report by a UK prosecutor who came to the Cayman Islands earlier this year to review the local criminal justice system will not be made public anytime soon. The governor’s office has refused to release the document by Claire Wetton, which examined the way criminal caseloads are being handled by the crown and […]
Criminal punishment
Cay Islander writes: I glanced at the Cayman Islands budget today and was surprised at the cost of criminal punishment. Our 200 prisoners cost us about $10.7M each year. That works out to $55K each! Then we spend another $6.5M on probation services. Clearly this is not something that we can sustain forever, so we […]
Woman dodges jail for $20k theft
(CNS): A woman who stole CI$20,000 from a condo strata was given a 12 month suspended sentence Wednesday, when the judge found exceptional circumstances surrounding the case regarding her violent partner. Samantha Brown (30) admitted stealing the cash from clients of Tessa Hydes Property Management, where she worked, using forged bank drafts. But the court […]
Concerns raised over exploitation of ‘begging’ kids
(CNS): The police were on the lookout in the George Town Harbour area Thursday morning after reports of children on the streets yesterday and today soliciting money from visitors, which may be part of a scam. The children were asking for money for an unspecified fundraiser for children in need but gave different accounts to local […]
Drug Council needs help for jailhouse survey
(CNS): The National Drug Council (NDC) is looking for volunteers to help with a survey of drug use among inmates in the local prison system, which is scheduled to take place in September. While it is common knowledge that a significant percentage of inmates in HMP Northward have serious drug and alcohol dependency problems, the […]
Bike rider and passenger injured in WB crash
(CNS): A 21-year-old man riding a dirt bike and his 21-year-old female pillion passenger were admitted to the George Town hospital last night following a serious collision outside a local restaurant in West Bay. Police said the crash happened on Reverend Blackman Road a few minutes after 8pm, when a teenager driving a Toyota Rav4 […]
WB home invader charged with rape
(CNS) Updated 2:24pm Thursday: The West Bay man who was apprehended by police after a major pursuit in the district Tuesday has been charged with rape and aggravated burglary in connection with an armed home invasion last week. Andre Chase (22) appeared in Summary Court this morning and the case was transmitted to Grand Court, where he […]
Police face ‘difficult circumstances’
(CNS): The commissioner of police has said the men and women of the RCIPS “continue to operate in difficult circumstances”, not least because of the closeness in the local community and relationships between parties involved in serious crimes. Following the recent release of a West Bay man charged with the murder of Victor Oliver Yates because the crown […]
Judge ‘merciful’ over brutal brother assault
(CNS): Easton Rudolph Russell (50) was sentenced to four years imprisonment Wednesday, following his conviction in April for the unlawful wounding of his brother, Carlos Renton Russell, in a brutal, but provoked, machete attack. Justice Malcolm Swift described the jail term as a “merciful one”, with mitigating circumstances weighed against violence so fierce that it […]
