Lawyer denies GBH and dangerous driving

Simon Courtney

(CNS): A Cayman-based corporate lawyer pleaded not guilty Friday to two charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm and one of dangerous driving when he appeared in the Grand Court. Simon Courtney (49) is accused of mowing down two tourists in January when he mounted the pavement near to Villas of the Galleon and the Ritz-Carlton on the West Bay Road while behind the wheel of a Red Ford Mustang Shelby. Having denied all three counts, the lawyer will face trial on 6 June.

Police said at the time of the collision, which happened around 5pm on Sunday 25 January, that the driver appeared to have lost control of his car. The couple who were hit both received serious head injuries, and while the woman was treated at the local hospital and made a full recovery, the man was airlifted to the United States and has since undergone two surgeries as a result of serious facial injuries he suffered.

Witnesses at the time said that the driver of the Mustang stopped for a moment and got out of the car and left a woman who was said to be a passenger at the scene of the crash before driving off.

Courtney is an associate with Forbes Hare, working in corporate finance, having arrived in Cayman some ten years ago.