BT man guilty of aiding suspect gunman’s escape

| 04/10/2018 | 26 Comments
Cayman News Service

LeShawn Forrester

(CNS): LeShawn Shaheim Forrester (24) was found guilty yesterday of aiding and abetting a suspect gunman to evade arrest by a Grand Court judge following a trial this summer. The Bodden Town man, who had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, did not convince the judge that he did not know that a passenger in his car had a gun or that his extremely dangerous reaction to encountering a police road block in June last year was due to panic because the passenger told him to go as he had drugs on him. Forrester had turned away from the road block, tearing off at high-speed on the wrong side of the road into on coming traffic on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway.

As she delivered her guilty verdict, Justice Marlene Carter, who heard the case alone without a jury, said she did not believe Forrester’s account. She said she was satisfied that his driving, which was “dangerous in the extreme” and an “extraordinary response”, was because he knew about the firearm and had helped the man escape.

Police never recovered the gun in question, and so had charged him with aiding and abetting and the possession of an imitation firearm with intent to resist arrest. Police officers testified that the gun had been clearly visible in the hand of one of two men who had later jumped out of Forrester’s car when he drove into what was at the time the construction site at the Kimpton resort. Because it was a dead-end and dark, the suspected gunman fled into the bushes, escaping the armed police who had ordered him to stop.

Forrester, who remained in his car as his two passengers fled on foot, was arrested at the scene. He gave a no comment interview about his dangerous reaction to the road block and the chase as he headed back towards George Town on the wrong side of the ETH, turned on to the West Bay Road by Cost U Less and ended up at the Kimpton site.

He spent two months in custody and, until he appeared in court, told no one that he had sped off because the passenger had told him he had drugs. He claimed he did not know the passenger and had given him a lift because it was raining. Forrester said he realised during the chase that he had no reason to put himself at risk and had come to his senses when he pulled over. But these claims were all made for the first time when he took the witness stand in his own defence at trial.

The judge said that this had caused her to draw an adverse inference, which, together with the crown’s evidence and the implausibility of his explanation, had satisfied her that Forrester had done what he did to assist the suspect to escape.

Following the guilty verdict Forrester, who has no previous convictions, was bailed to return for sentencing in December after the court requested a social inquiry report.

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Category: Courts, Crime

Comments (26)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    It be people like ya’ll that put jesus on the cross some on you people be in the church in still sin so everyone makes mistakes give the young kid a chance & no one really know’s the real position because cayman system so corrupt some people i jail innocently dont throw stones if you’re living in a glass house(;

  2. Anonymous says:

    I dont see where it say’s he have knowledge of a firearm hmmm this case it a unlawful case in my eye’s!

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  3. Anonymous says:

    The hate is real !!

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  4. Anonymous says:

    For all ya’ll that have bad shit to say thank you for the hate that only makes ya stronger, because ya’ll soo INNOCENT!!. Dont worry only god will judge me, This God Damn System So Currupt You Dont Even Know It,
    Una That Hating Is CRABS IN A BARREL!!!.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Caymanian !!! You sure????

  6. Anonymous says:

    Sentencing should start at the minimum mandatory firearm sentence and then triple it for telling such a ridiculously unbelievable story! What an idiot.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Cool looking idiot!

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Nearly everyone involved in crime nowadays is “a Bodden Town man”. Most of them are Jamaicans since Bodden Town has become Little Kingston thanks to us Caymanians renting them out cheap accommodation. If they are not Jamaican, they are Jamaican extraction. We have ruined the district of Bodden Town and are working hard to mash up the whole country.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Wanna be a gansta….now ya are one

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  10. Anonymous says:

    It is possible for the judge to take into account aggravating factors when sentencing? – That shirt itself should add 2 years to the sentence!

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  11. Anonymous says:

    December? So ridiculous. It’s obvious this kid thought he could get away with a flimsy story.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    if you live by the sword…you….

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Picture says it all.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    I born and bred in Bodden Town and never heard of any “Forrester” family “from” BT! These people are imports and simply reside in a given district. Perhaps more accurate reporting should say “such and such, a resident of ….” whatever district, not that the person is “a Bodden Town man or a West Bay woman”, etc.

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    • Hafoo says:

      The man is a born and bren Caymanian…where does it say,people must have traditional surnames to be caymanian.matter of fact,I know a lot that changed thier surname.so as not to show relation to some people

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    • NotTelling youAnything says:

      I’d like to let you know that this man is a Caymanian whether or not his parents are from Bodden Town, George Town or any other town! He was born here, he is a Caymanian. Its people like you, with you mind set that is the down fall of this country! Instead of lending a helping hand, a word of adive, you downgrade your own people!

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Should have known better than to do that Lechon.

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