Hospitality school intern convicted of theft
(CNS): A nineteen-year-old graduate of the government school designed to encourage Caymanians into the tourism sector has been convicted of theft. Joseph Maitland was working as an intern at Caribbean Club after graduating from the UCCI School of Hospitality Studies but used his pass-key to enter a condo unit at the resort on Seven Mile Beach and stole around US$1,500 from wallets and bags in May. The local teenager appeared in court Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty at the end of July. The court heard that the room was not ransacked and there was no forced entry but the group of four visitors discovered the cash was missing shortly after returning to their room and reported it to the management.
The theft was reported to the police and inspection of the room key records revealed that while the guests were out there had been two entries into the room. The first was for a scheduled cleaning but the second was an unexpected and abnormal entry that was traced to Maitland’s key. The resort also determined that he had left work earlier that day.
When police went to his home they found US cash and, following enquiries, Maitland admitted his crime.
During the sentencing hearing his attorney argued for a non-custodial sentence as this was a first offence for the teenager, who was dealing with mental health issues. However, the crown pointed to the significant breach of trust and not only the general impact on tourism but also the impact on the hospitality school, as the Caribbean Club has indicated it will no longer work with the school or take its graduates.
The magistrate hearing the case is expected to deliver his sentence on Thursday.
We have all seen that crimes are committed and trusts are broken on this island by individuals not nationalities. We have repeatedly elected government officials known for lying and suspected of worse. What sign does this give to all members of Cayman society…in the words of Gordon Gecko…”Greed is Good”.
Gordon Gecko did not say “Greed is good”.
This is what he said: “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much.”
Maybe next year’s Heroes Day Awards could be themed “Honoring People Who Have Not Committed A Crime”.
Well he can cater to our guess at HMP , Northward.
Crime is crime…I’m not sure it matters whether he was expat, cayman or a bloody import ( never heard that before). The fact is, an individual who was trusted by his employers stole from someone who trusted his employers to keep their items safe. This happens everyday, in every town in every city. Who knows if he had done it previously, with 20 bucks, 100 bucks, money just lying around on bedside cabinets, kitchen counters, who knows! He got greedy and went for the mother load as they say, maybe he fancied buying one of those 1995 honda civics with the trick rims! He’s obviously not too smart as he used his card to enter the room. What can be done to avoid this in the future? The answer is nothing! Diddly squat! Old people steal, young people steal, men steal, women steal….it’s just that some people in our society take what isn’t theirs to take. Bad for the island and bad for the caribbean club but I’m pretty sure tourists will be more worried about being robbed at knifepoint while admiring the sunset on west bay beach or being attacked while staggering home drunk on a late night binge. Whether it’s a CFO stealing a million dollars over several years or a 19 yr old opportunist taking cash from a room he’s trusted to look after. Stealing is stealing and each case will carry a different sentence.
CNS, this is the third time I have posted this comment, what is the problem ? I don’t understand why the Caribbean Club management would let a new employee have access to room keys. I’m happy to know that the issue was no worse, and I hope that management has learned from this.
it seems they have learned….. they are not hiring any more interns or graduates, or working with the hospitality school.
Lucky them. It is the poor businesses being forced to hire poor quality staff I feel sorry for.
Probably because it was part of his job to be able to let people into their rooms if they forgot a key or follow up on housekeeping etc. There are a thousand reasons why. Companies usually don’t hire people to sit around doing nothing. The presumption is that you screen your employees when you hire them so they are not scum, then you monitor them in case they are.
Shame on you, Caymanians. I’ve never been so disgusted by the comments on here. I know Joseph, and anyone who knows him, knows what a sweet, kind and gentle young man he is. Yes, Joseph has issues and problems. He has Special Educational Needs that were never properly addressed in High School, never supported, despite the fact that he was crying out for them. What he needs is your understanding, not your vilification and demonisation. I’m outraged at the way that so called spiritual, God fearing Christians here have called for his deportation because they assume that he’s Jamaican. I don’t fully know what Joseph’s background is, but I can tell you he wouldn’t be on island at age 19 if he didn’t hold Caymanian status, which makes him a Caymanian, whether you like it or not. And, therefore, one of your own. And you, my friends, are nothing but nasty, bigoted, narrow minded racists who have no concept of the real world. And you, my friends, will be responsible for the ultimate decline of Cayman because your entitlement culture and your laziness and your greed and your stupidity and your bigotry will ensure that the real help and support you need will stop coming.
I’m happy to engage in further debate. But I doubt you’re capable of informed, intelligent discourse.
You are unhappily mistaken if you believe non Caymanians cannot stay past 18. There are hundreds below the radar. Joseph may be one of them.
Well, Anonymous 8:16, you are right about one thing. I am not capable of informed, intelligent discourse….. but I ain’t letting that stop me. No matter what you think of this young man, he is a thief! Enough said.
A thief is a thief whatever the excuses made for them by liberal do-gooders with a misplaced sense of the prospects of redemption.
If he became Caymanian by entitlement as a child, and has not applied to continue it on reaching 18, he is NOT a Caymanian, even if he had status up to his 18th birthday. That is the law.
No S.E.N.D. Needs are properly addressed presently and the real help and support is not coming from the schools. I’m sorry but this requires attention for future young caymanians.
Allow him to continue on the condition that advocate to teens about the importance of an education and avoidance of crime. Make him share his story, become the poster kid for a cause. He took advantage of society now we have a chance to hold him to account on our terms.
Sure…we’ll send him over to your house.
I am the only one who read that the young man has mental health issues? He needs help not prison. He may have caste a slur on his school and the programme but its the not the end of the world for them.
Mental health issues vary. Need more details.
Or is it learning disabilities that created social, academic challenges that all went unchecked in our great public school system?
Learning disabilities doesn’t equal stealing. His parents can teach him morals. I have a special needs child and that’s not something I would see him doing unless someone put him up to it. It’s not like he found the money on the ground. He deliberately went in and stole the money.
Mental health issues should not be used as an excuse. We elect people with mental health issues to our Legislative Assembly and they… never mind.
So why did it take him stealing and losing his job before we get the suggestion that he needs help for his mental health issues??
***
Cayman-Kind!!!!
That’s getting a little old and a lot not so funny
Not for me, still is the mot juste at times like these.
Should we have a “disgusted with them” campaign to accompany the “proud of them” campaign?
Yes, we need more awards.
I don’t get why this means that they no longer will hire graduates from that school?!?! Are they applying the same rational to nationalities, ie if one stole, they no longer hire from that country? I am sure they are happy relying on police clearance certificates that can be bought for just a few dollars in certain countries, so it appears that this decision is just a knee jerk reaction.
You don’t get it. The went out of their way to help, and got bitten. its not surprising that they then retreat. Not everyone has the patience of Christ or the willingness to keep turning the other cheek. Why are you giving them a hard time for even trying – you should be excoriating this ass who has ruined it for more honest Caymanian youngsters desperate for a job.
Thanks again Mac.
When since does placing an intern of the UCCI School of Hospitality constitute “going out of your way to help”? Every medium sized or large business should be required to place interns.
Nonsense! What you are basically saying is that a High School graduate who has gotten a entry level position turns out to steal, the company should no longer hire any students from that High School? Or college? Or university? Come on – every time a employer hires someone they take a chance. Do you know how many people here on Island have gotten work permits with some made up resume who ended up being thieves?
What is so hard to understand? Clearly the school does not vet their students.
it seems very easy for the public here to point fingers at everyone else except the criminal. We could blame his parents who didn’t love him enough or his teacher for not spending more time with him, or the school who, unless he had a previous record, would have no knowledge of him being likely to do such a thing with such a great opportunity afforded to him. We have blamed employers for the crime of others and for not vetting them properly or catching them in time and if it was a foreigner, well the employer got what they deserved because they didn’t hire a Caymanian (yes I have read that here). The ‘blame’ vests with the criminal and lets leave it at that.
As it was his first offense, what kind of vetting could they have done? Magic 8 ball?
There are no 2nd chances in life!
ummm, so you’re saying he lost his gainful employment as had to steal because he was frustrated that he might not find gainful employment…..
West Bay logic.
How dumb one might need to be….Sigh
So let me get this straight, one person from the UCCI Hospitality school gets convicted of theft and Caribbean Club decides that they don’t want any more of them? Seriously? I wonder how the Immigration Department would react if one American, Canadian, English, Jamaican, South African or any other countless nationalities who run afoul of the law here would ensure that none of these other nationalities came to Cayman. There is reaction and then there is over reaction. The Hospitality school is a wonderful idea. It gives young people who really want to work in this industry the opportunity to do so. It is quite sad that Caribbean Club has taken such drastic measures.
On another note, I am loving the enthusiasm that the legal department and police are displaying when it comes to punishing these offences. Hoping that the decision not to prosecute She Who Shall Not be Named is looked into #notholdingmybreath
Just because the prosecutor said it doesn’t mean it’s true. Wait to hear directly from Caribbean Club.
No good deed goes unpunished. You do understand that the Caribbean Clubs participation was voluntary and altruistic, right? And that they might just have thought that UCCI would screen people before recommending them? And the damage this does to their reputation with their clients goes way beyond the money stolen?
One thing to employ someone following your own selection criteria and make a mistake. You rely on someone else, with the best of motives, and get burnt, bit difficult to trust again. If i recommended someone for a job and they did this I would be mortified, but I wouldn’t blame the employer if they didn’t trust my recommendation in the future. But you, who has nothing at risk, think they should throw the dice again. How about you agree to repay any money the next one may steal so the Club can hire with an easier mind? Not willing to take the risk – then stop chucking rocks?
Yeah, I expected the person who sexually harassed me at work to be screened and vetted as well prior to getting a work permit for him!
Your logic is less than unrealistic!
There’s a saying that a lot of people and companies abide by; “one bad apple spoils the whole dam bunch”. Welcome to the real world.
Well done Mr. Maitland in hampering future job prospects for those who complete the same course and an even better job at tarnishing the programs name.
It is very important that values are taught and instilled in the life of students of all agaes. I can only hope that ethics and values are incorporated in the UCCI School of Hospitality Studies. If not, this should be included forthwith!
While your comment is true, most importantly they should be taught at home.
Parents must try their best to instill ethics and values to their children, and even when they do, our children sometimes still made poor choices.
That young man whose greed got the better of him, has now blighted chances for other students who are honest and hardworking to gain the opportunity he squandered for internship by that establishment.
Imagine what those tourist are going to tell family and friends when they go back home. He need to spend time so this act as a deterrent to him and all others going forward. Greed raises its ugly head again; stiffer sentences will help cut this out!
The judicial system works to send caymanians to HMP, while importees are given a slap on the wrist. Bias system
Certainly most of Northward’s guests are Caymanian.
Anonymous 11:54am – by the looks of Northward, this is not being taught at home. So yes, let’s make it part of the curriculum if that’s what it takes.
So young to start his life of crime/Northward/crime/Northward etc…
why is this not burglary?
Because he was an employee of the location that the theft took place. Had he been a random person breaking in the burglary charge would had followed but since from a work place it is considered theft by an employee and will carry a heavier sentence due to breach of trust.
Burglary = illegal entry to a location for a criminal purpose
Robbery = taking or attempting to take something by force from a person
Theft = taking or acquiring something belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it
The intern was lawfully on the premises. Although his entry into the room itself was unauthorised and for no legitimate purpose, if he had been charged with burglary alone, his lawyer might just have been able to argue that he had free reign of the building as an employee and therefore couldn’t have committed the act of burglary on that property. The case could have fallen apart – not likely, but not impossible. Theft, however. sticks no matter how the property comes into the hands of the wrongdoer, so long as the person acts in a way that demonstrates they intend to keep the property and use it as their own. Theft was the safer and proper charge.
I am sure his presence in that room was not permitted at that time and he went with the intention of stealing. That would make him a trespasser, therefore it is BURGLARY! Whether or not the crown is willing to take on the challenge is another thing.
2003 Status recipients deserve to have a Caymanian category of their own.
Maybe so, 10:21, but the category of “born Caymanian” is not always filled with honesty and honor either as a recent set of comments about Shane and Sven Connor on CNS plus the considerable number of those born here and now living in Her Majesty’s Prison at Northward clearly demonstrate.
Very true, but every country will have a certain percentage of bad seed. However, when we have the opportunity to vet someone BEFORE they are given citizenship then we would expect the percentage of bad seed to be much lower. It must make upright new citizens like David Legge feel ashamed that he obtained his status in the same manner as the string of people who continuously appear before our courts.
“..the string of people who continuously appear before our courts”. If you read the Courts Lists every week, you will see that the “string of people” who I think you want us to believe are not born here are in fact in the vast majority born here and a depressing number of them are the born Caymanian children of born Caymanian parents who themselves have been frequent guests of Northward Prison.
Well said, 12:36. The false insinuations by some of these posters is really sickening.
Has anyone’s status ever been rescinded? Or, when was the last time you saw where anyone was deemed ‘Persona non grata’?
That would require the law to be enforced. We do not do that ’round these parts.
10:21 do you care to explain or you reached your one and only bowel movement for the day..
This is a disgrace! It goes to show that we need stronger deterrents for crimes against tourists. There should be a mandatory custodial sentence for committing a crime against a visitor as they are contributing to the welfare of the country. These types of crimes give the country a bad name as the tourists will go back home never to return, or they will spread the bad news that they were robbed by locals. Now the Hospitality School has to screen their students and be selective about who they refer to employers. It’s just terrible and it should not be happening.
As part of his conviction, he should be made to apologize to the public, the hospitality school, the hotel and the victims. Maybe even community service on a garbage truck or sorting refuse at the landfill would be appropriate.
Is he a local or imported?
Local
Import, it seems. May even be an expat.
Is he of the soil, generational, status grant beneficiary, driftwood, mudblood, expat or evil Jamaican. It is hard to know the right terms in when reality, apartheid and Harry Potter collide
The hospitality school should be screening their students anyway before they send them in to private businesses
And how, precisely, would this have been detected if he had no prior record?
A brain scan, like on Minority Report.
Being raised with the frustration of the difficulty of finding gainful employment is a factor in young crime perhaps?
Um, he had a job and a good track to a future. He threw it away. Don’t blame anyone other than the individual.
So once you are employed, you steal?
He got a job and look what he did to his employers. He should be ashamed of himself. He’s a disgrace to everyone that work so hard to make that program work including his fellow students. I agree with the poster about making him do some hard community service, and apologizing to all of his victims: the school, his fellow students, Caribbean Club, the tourists, the government, matter of fact, the whole Cayman Islands. See what government get for helping people? Ungrateful little ingrate.
12:01. Is Maitland one of us? Didn’t know that was a Cayman surname. Another one of them to make us look bad. Welcome, you let yourself down. Stealing is an wonderful certification.
Does it matter what his nationality is? You think the tourists know the difference? Does it change the blight on the program, Caribbean Club, the Cayman Islands, and UCCI?
Are you so dense 12:40, that you still believe all born Caymanians are called Bodden, Ebanks, Watler, Connor, McField, Seymour, Connolly, Miller etc etc.? Have you any idea how many foreign men have given their seed and their name to children born here? It’s been going on for 30 years or more.
Maitland is a yardie name but he could have a Caymanian parent or Status Grant! And not necessarily from 2003. His parent could have and passed to him before his 18th b/day!! We got to stop passing on Status…..Let ’em pass on their own…..Hope Deportation Order is on its way! But then again we let ’em with $300K fly away eh? But not the CAYMANIAN for $1500?? Matters not though as CAYMAN gets the STINK name and all the other interns will be subjected to vigorous scrutiny! Damned If you do and damned if you don’t….
“yardie name”? Does that mean he comes from Goat Yard in West Bay? Or is it some other derogatory expression for someone from another country? You probably use the N-word too. Try so show some respect to your fellow human beings.
Not all all, apologist. Being greedy, lazy and immoral are the main factors, together with a genetic inclination according to recent science.
What science dat?
A fairly basic example. There are many and they are increasing. Criminality is unlikely to be an issue of free will. Doesn’t mean we don’t lock them up to protect us.
http://www.nature.com/news/brain-scans-predict-which-criminals-are-more-likely-to-reoffend-1.12672
Deportation order? …. Oh wait
Actually, how do you know he is a Caymanian? It is perfectly possible that he is not, in which case a deportation order would be entirely appropriate.
If he is who I think he is, he may have become Caymanian after his parents received Cabinet Status grants. He will have automatically lost his status on his 18th birthday – unless he applied for its continuation before he turned 18. He has to prove good character to do that. He cannot. It is therefore quite possible or even likely that he is not Caymanian.
I don’t think that he would have gotten into the program without Cayman status so he probably already have his status. Maybe if he isn’t naturalized, he can lose the status. That’s how it used to be but they change the rules so much that I’m not sure.
He might have had status as a child, but lost it at 18 unless he applied for continuation.
If he is not a Caymanian he ought to be deported.
Very disappointing. Despite the government investing in this individual in hope of allowing him to have a future he has self-destructed. This is a reminder that good values must be taught early starting at home. They cannot be taught in the classroom.
If he is not Caymanian, as some here suggest, why was Government investing in him in the first place?
Joseph is a borne Caymanian, but both of his parents are Jamaican. At the age of 18 he reapplied for his status and it was granted!
I’ve known Joseph from a very early age, when he attended half day Lighthouse school and half day Red Bay Primary school. He is indeed a very friendly and outgoing young man, why he did what he did, only God knows but whoever is free of sin, should cast the first stone…We all make stupid mistakes people, so stop judging.
All actions have consequences, I agree that he must pay for his indiscretion but I will not sit here and speak of his actions as if I’m squeaky clean. I am really sorry that he put those entities involved through this ordeal, and for the guests I only hope that this incident didn’t damp their image of our true Cayman hospitality.
Joseph has learnt his lesson, and I pray that he uses this setback as a stepping stone, in a positive way. I have a son who is around Joseph’s age and as a mother, I am very saddened by this news.
Not true. If his parents were Jamaican when he was born he is a born Jamaican. It is not lawfully possible for him to have been born Caymanian. He may have become Caymanian after his parents became Caymanian. Are you sure his continuation was granted?