Armed cop walks free after witness fails to appear
Courthouse door, Grand Cayman
(CNS): An officer serving in the RCIPS armed support unit who was placed on required leave following allegations of assault in connection with a fight in a George Town bar has been cleared after the prosecution failed to bring a case well over two years after he was charged. Derron Campbell, a Jamaican national, has had his career with the local police on hold because of the charge but after the complainant failed to show up to give evidence on at least two occasions the case was discharged Tuesday by Acting Magistrate Grace Donalds.
The complaint had been made by Ricky Rankin, who accused Campbell of thumping him in the head at the Ultra Glow bar during an incident in 2013.
But the alleged victim of the assault is understood to have moved overseas. The crown was unable to produce the witness Tuesday morning when the trial was scheduled to commence after at least one previously adjourned trial date and Campbell’s defence attorney, Denis Brady, argued that the charges against his client should be dismissed.
He said that the young officer’s career was stalled purely because of the unfounded complaint, which his client denied, and the crown’s continuation with the case despite the missing witness. He told the magistrate that the police wanted Campbell back on active duty in the Uniform Support Group, which is the armed unit of the RCIPS.
The magistrate agreed that it could not drag on any longer and discharged the case against Campbell for “want of prosecution”, paving the way after well over two years for the young officer to return to active duty.
Campbell is one of a number of police officers who are either on desk jobs or suspension as a result of pending criminal charges and a much bigger group of civil servants who are on leave pending criminal probes or other internal investigations.
From the ex-fire chief, who is facing charges relating to dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident after he allegedly mowed down two brothers in Savannah during a road smash in January, to two RCIPS officers accused of assault and excessive force for using a Taser inappropriately, a number of uniformed civil servants in particular are being paid to stay home while their cases crawl through the court system.
U bash the police so hard I don’t live there so is all what u said is correct
And in some cases, the public is assisting with them not being held accountable for their procedural failures! Disgusting x 2!!
Yes yet another shining example of the UK & Baines’s diversity project for the Cayman Islands. Yes had it been a Caymanian though, the outcome would be a whole lot different. Two years of paid leave Thank You! back on the streets to continue the UK Policing model. What mess this little place is in?
No wonder we have so many fraudsters who come to the Island and leave with other people’s property and no one knows where they are – Immigration should have a robust security check point, and docked in the system to alert of these individual/s when such things happen in Banking/Courts/Etc. before leaving the Island. It seems like no one cares about finding out the truth in our country.
This is disgraceful. If more prosecution staff is needed get them. When will the DPP be made to account for these delays in justice?This is a banana republic approach to justice. Why are we accepting this for so long?
This is a total failure and a true independent body needs to investigate the workings of the RCIP and the Portfolio of internal and external affairs. The obvious issue of crime is apparent by the headlines. Yes there are community and education failures in play but even with that x factor the Police are a measured failure demonstrated by the high crime, the poor and failed vetting of criminals then sworn into become Police Officers, the constant acquittals that are given and dismissals in court, the mystery of the break in at the Police compound where evidence was stored under the watch of a guard supplied by the Security Centre along with Cctv but nothing was apparently noticed, in time not charges brought to anyone , the failure of our multiy million dollar Cctv system again provided by the Security Centre. There are always common factors in a lot of the issues surrounding the RCIP and for that matter the Prison and Immigration. We have a huge import of British higher ranking police officials and Prision Officials, a lot of lower ranking people from Jamaica who are subject to the minimum of questioning their judgement and performance and the issue of as a stop gap in crime the constant hiring of the Services of the Security Centre to provide crime fighting services to our community. These issues cannot be ignored and there must be an answer to why these things are allowed to keep evolving to unchecked measures without real measurable results. In some way or form these factors are profiting while the community suffers?????
It s ridiculous that nothing is being done to reduce the time a person is on payed leave. Why do they get FULL pay for doing nothing? And why don’t they don’t have to return any of their pay if proven guilty as charged…….. ?
I wonder why he moved? Answers on a postcard to “The Intimidation Game”, C/o DPP, George Town.
Was this copy on duty and carrying his firearm? There are too many backdoor deals and prolonged prosecutions of cases involving civil servants. There is no transparency not expediency in coming to resolutions without the people of this Island suffering hardship as posts are left vacant and these people are salaried sometimes for years. The RCIP needs a cleaning up. From the Central Police Station burglary of a make shift container that is on Police Property under a lock and key and fence with the Security Centres guard watching it, with CCTV provided by same said company to the employing of another criminal who was under a murder investigation to countless other incidents. Poor at best.