Court urged not to record Bush’s conviction
(CNS): A magistrate was urged not to record a conviction against House Speaker McKeeva Bush for what was said to be an “appalling” assault at a beach bar on 21 February on the female manager. Bush was described as “extremely intoxicated” and unable to recall most of the events. But the court saw CCTV footage and heard witness accounts of the violence, as well as a message sent by Bush soon afterwards where he called his victim “a mother f*#king lesbian”.
In an unexpected hearing on Thursday, as Bush was due to stand trial Monday having previously denied the charges, the veteran politician pleaded guiltily to two of three counts of assault and one of disorderly conduct.
However, Bush’s attorney, Michael Alberga, disputed the first assault count because this part of the 20-minute spree of violence by his client at the Coral Beach Bar on Seven Mile Beach was not as clear on the video footage as the other two assaults.
Alberga told the court that his client had “barely any recollection” of the night. Given that it was not clear what happened in some of the CCTV footage, the crown could allege anything, Alberga said, but his client was not in a position to dispute it, given his level of intoxication and lack of memory.
Alberga suggested that the footage could be interpreted to show the victim, Livia Kwong, spitting on and even assaulting Bush. But every time he was pressed, the lawyer stepped back from making the assertion that the victim had actually started the assault after Bush, who the video shows was clearly drunk, had fallen over.
This was the position that Bush had taken in a group WhatsApp message that was circulated between the parties involved and the bar owners later on the same night as the assault, where Bush claimed that Kwong had kicked him because he had made accusations about lesbians being in the bar.
Bush did not issue an apology until several days after the assault, and when he did, he had not accepted any guilt. The crown insisted that Bush now accept the case against him or go to trial.
However, Alberga argued that was not necessary because his client was very sorry, extremely remorseful and wanted to put the whole thing behind him. The lawyer said he just wanted the judge to be aware that the movements of Kwong could be interpreted in more than one way. He said the evidence might not be an indication of her helping Bush but assaulting him.
The crown’s case is based on the CCTV footage, witness statements from the victim and other staff members, as well as evidence of calls that Kwong had tried to make and messages sent, all of which supported her recollection of the night and pointed to Bush’s full culpability in the assault.
Director of Public Prosecutions Patrick Moran, who presented the case, said he wanted to make it clear what the crown’s case was: “He drank too much, behaved appallingly and assaulted a woman who was trying to help him.”
CCTV footage played in the court showed Bush arriving at the bar sometime around 9:00 that night. After getting out of the passenger side of a vehicle, he staggers into the bar. A short time later, Bush, who is unsteady on his feet, is seen to fall down on a pathway between the bar and the kitchen. Although caught on camera, his fall is obscured by a row of closed-up beach umbrellas. But at some point Kwong comes along and tries to assist Bush.
She later told police that, in his drunken state, he then began assaulting her, pulling her hair and punching out at her as she tried to help him up. During this melee Kwong called and messaged Richard Parchment, the original project director at the bar. The crown said that her goal had been for someone to come and take Bush discreetly and quietly out of the bar.
In the video, Bush is able to regain his footing and he heads towards the kitchen, but at that point he is seen picking up two bus trays (sizeable plastic buckets used to collect crockery), which he flings at Kwong and she deflects with her arms. The final act of violence by Bush occurred in the kitchen, where the video shows him slamming the woman against the surfaces and trying to grab the phone she is using to summon help.
In the violent scuffle, Bush has his arm around Kwong’s neck and throws her from surface to surface. The assault comes to an end when other staff members pull Bush away and he is eventually escorted from the premises.
The crown said that throughout the assault Kwong was also subject to a string of expletives and insults from Bush. She sustained a number of minor injuries to her arm, leg, neck and head.
Kwong had eventually opted to give a statement to police about the assault, having initially asked the officers summoned to the bar to merely warn Bush about the drunken behaviour.
She had told them that this was not an isolated incident, and while it was the first time he had become violent, it was not the first time he was drunk and disorderly. The court heard that Bush’s son is a part-owner in the bar, though during this incident Bush had described it as his place, the crown said.
In Bush’s defence Alberga accepted that his client was “unfortunately extremely intoxicated”, but since then he had given up alcohol completely and had undergone focused and intensive counselling to address the alcohol abuse stemming from the death of his daughter and the grief he had suffered.
Alberga spoke of Bush’s very humble beginnings and outlined his client’s 36 years of public service, listing his achievements and accomplishments as a servant of the people of West Bay and the Cayman Islands. He noted the work Bush had done in his career to advance the status of women in Cayman with issues relating to equal pay, maternity leave, laws to protect them from domestic violence and putting women in positions of power.
He urged the court not to record a conviction because of Bush’s work, especially his work with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. This requires him to travel and a conviction would make visas very difficult, he argued. He also has to travel to the US with his wife, who is in ill health, and a conviction could also jeopardize that. A conviction would serve as undue punishment given his position, Alberga argued.
Falling short of spelling out the details, Alberga referred to another legislator, who “shall remain nameless”, who was charged and pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman where a conviction was not recorded. He was referring to the case of Austin Harris, who, despite pleading guilty to a violent drunken assault on his girlfriend in 2015, escaped any sanction or conviction ahead of his own political ambitions.
Moran reminded the court that Bush had been aware of the crown’s case since April but the first indication that he was willing to plead and not go to trial had come just a few weeks ago. As a result, he argued, Bush should not receive the full credit afforded to those who admit their crimes at the earliest opportunity.
The senior prosecutor said the assault was not premeditated but it was prolonged. It involved the use of the bus trays as weapons and the hostility was aggravated because it was also based on an assumption about Kwong’s sexual orientation. The crown was not claiming that Bush had gone to the bar intending to hurt anyone, Moran said, but there were “significant factors indicating high culpability”.
Magistrate Kirsty-Ann Gunn, who presided over the case, said that she would consider all of the case material submitted by both the crown and the defence and give a sentence ruling, if possible, the week before Christmas.
Although he has pleaded guilty to the charges, Bush is not yet convicted. However, the case is no longer sub judice.
As he waits to learn his fate for the assault, Bush will be presiding over historic celebrations on Friday, when the Legislative Assembly is formally unveiled as the Cayman Islands Parliament.
Bush took leave of absence from the speaker’s chair in the wake of the assault against Kwong, but he returned to one of the country’s highest offices in August, claiming that he had only stepped down for a while to get counselling.
On his return, Bush claimed that he was innocent until proven guilty and that if he was, the members of the House had the power to remove him if they wanted, but said he did not think they would want to.
They finally got Al Capone on Tax Evasion, so we can only hope for something similar here.
The prison is crying for him.
This man is a thug and an absolute disgrace to the Cayman Islands. Given that he is a publicly elected official, he has an even greater responsibility than the rest of us to act appropriately and abide by the law. For Mr Alberga to suggest that his client’s position some how absolves his behaviour or justifies not convicting him is despicable. I hope that Magistrate Gunn has the courage to convict this pathetic little man, and send a clear message that absolutely no one is above the law.
What a disgusting piece of shit. Lock his stupid ass up and throw away the key. Better yet put him on a plane to JA so he can get drunk and beat up women like his brethren.
…seriously?
Surely this drunken homophobic woman beater cannot be allowed to sit as speaker today.
A few comments on Michael Alberga’s remarkable submissions in mitigation:
– Being drunk is an aggravating factor, not a mitigating one. He’s not claiming that anyone forced the drink down his neck, or that he was on meds that made it affect him more. We are presumed to intend the reasonably foreseeable consequences of our actions, which includes the effects of being drunk.
– The fact that McKeeva is a political figure who would be impacted by a conviction is again an aggravating factor, not a mitigating one. Those who are placed in high office are held to a higher standard. He has an obligation to comport himself in accordance with the dignity (hah!) of the Speakership.
– Dodging count one because there’s no video of it won’t fly. There is plenty of evidence to support that count without the video. The fact that McKeeva doesn’t remember it is neither here nor there – he chose to get drunk, remember? The Court can and should quite properly accept the unchallenged evidence of the victim, because it is consistent with what was on the video.
– Victim blaming isn’t a good look. Ever.
Taking all this into account, I’d say Mr Alberga’s submissions should lead the Court to impose a heavier sentence, rather than a lighter one.
And finally, claiming the Austin Harris case as a precedent is pure BS. Firstly, there’s no such thing as precedent in the Magistrates’ court. Each case is judged on its own facts. Secondly, the decision in Harris’ case was obviously and shamefully wrong. The fact that a previous Judge made such an appalling misjudgment is no reason for this Judge to do so again.
Excellent points! Thank you.
He is being tried in court of Law, not reprimanded by high school principal for bad behaviour.
agreed
Write to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to let them know how you feel about their continued acquaintance with this person
hq.sec@cpahq.org
Mr Jarvis Matiya, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of Operations
jarvis.matiya@cpahq.org
He will not get a custodial sentence, but the great irony would be to sentence him to go back to his old job of cutting the grass at the airport while wearing his speaker garb.
In a stockade outside airport or in Hero’s Square!
What I find particularly disturbing is that after the initial assault he armed himself and sought her out. He had the opportunity of walking away after the initial assault, but instead he effectively hunted her down. It must have been traumatic for the lady to see him bearing down on her and armed with an object.
The references to the messages he sent afterwards indicate that he was aware of his conduct at the time and thus being so, it means it was clearly intentional.
In response to Alberga’s comments that he should be ‘let off because of previous
public service’ I would say the following.
Bush has held the highest offices in this country, he is in a privileged position as a lawmaker. He has now admitted he has broken those laws, but doesn’t want to face the consequences of breaking such laws. If this is permitted by the magistrate, what message does it send to society – that men who make laws are absolved from all consequences of breaking such laws? That just cannot be the right outcome.
What a loathsome ordeal it must have been for Magistrate Gunn to have had to sit through the cretinous, misogynistic ramblings of this so-called defence. It probably took Ropers and Reliable to clean up the slime that was dribbled in the courtroom. Hopefully, justice will be dispensed at full bore and Cayman’s “national nightmare” will no longer be politically relevant.
At least his was caught on video and not covered up by those who are hired to mind our leaders! By the way what happen to his ?? Must be sleeping in vehicle again or talking to the chicks! In any case did not keep his boss from getting drunk ,beating up women and fall down all at the same time. A salary cut might get him to pay attention next time?
Being drunk out of his mind in public would be an aggravating factor not a mitigating one, no idea what his lawyer is thinking but if Mckeeva is going to get arrested every 2-3 years because he has no self control he really needs to hire better legal representation he would have likely gotten the best outcome if he just admitted to the wrongdoing at the first possible instance, committed himself to not repeating the behaviour and to entering some sort of treatment, the court would have likely given him a suspended sentence that he could have had expunged from his record in a few years
I do slightly admire the lawyer who is getting paid (probably quite well) and advised him to use the Errington Webster “I have no recollection of doing the thing I clearly did so I should not be convicted” argument which has almost no legal standing
If there is video of the crime and dozens of witnesses (which there are) just plead out and take your licks, there is no squirming and charming your way out of these charges this case is open and shut.
Without making an excuse for the devil our speaker is not the only politician that (misbehaves) fortunately for some their “immoral misconduct” is cloaked and even flaunted in public and even touted by our UK Bosses and because they have compromised their own people and their popularity with the governing powers simply affords them great leeway and a lot of nasty little indiscretions like assaulting wives and girlfriends when they get out line. Yet we hear nothing of it because it does not fit the narrative they want us to hear nor see! Still no less abhorrent though? Those leaders who cannot demonstrate decency in their private lives are fortunately morally bankrupt and corrupt in their public one. Exactly what we see now here on display for all to muse!
Wives and girlfriends. LOL, yes we all know who youre talking about and why nobody in our “parliament” spoke out. Everybodys got so much $#!/ on each other boy!
God bless Mr. Speaker for admitting and addressing your wrongdoing. My God richly bless you on your path towards healing ❤.
LOOOOLLLLLL
I really hope this was posted ironically.
If there’s anyone out there who genuinely believes this, then they are as in much need of medical help as McKeeva
Yes….. quite, but just not admitting the first assault, because that one was not caught on camera…!!!
I guess all is forgiven???
7.54 Put down the crack pipe. Step away from the crack pipe.
You must be the same kind of person he is.
Please go join him!
If I understand correctly, his lawyer says Bush should not be convicted because he is rich and important and a conviction would jeopardize his rich and important lifestyle? What a load of crock. I hope the court doesn’t buy it (but based on past cases, I am afraid that the court will side with Bush).
Sorry, remind what he has done for the country other than make it a laughing stock? Kick the overgrown man-child out now Alden.
I can’t read any of this without wanting to vomit!
I’m ashamed! Ashamed of our “parliamentarians”! Ashamed of our legal system! Ashamed to have ever considered this lowlife scumbag of a Speaker a friend! Ashamed that his lawyer is a member of the Cayman bar!
I’m almost ashamed of being Caymanian except I know we can do better! We MUST do better.
I want to SCREAM!
To every single politician seeking election or re-election, you better have a VERY good answer to all the Mckeeva questions I’m going to ask you!
How on earth can it be that this guy is in the parliament? No wonder people have no respect for their government. Meanwhile, the parliament sits there mute! Why are they not condemning him? Do they think such behavior is OK???
Agreed. Yet two of them will give ‘character’ starements for Sandra Hill. These two incidents show just how bad the ‘MPs’ are at judgement in these islands.
Bush is a vile, privileged over promoted child. His sentence should end his political life. He clearly intends on remaining part of the gravy train with the comments around his continuing involvement with the Commonwealth.
Why was he not also charged with hate speech??????? if the CCTV footage has him calling her a F… L… !!!
Lock him up … 13 months in Northward would do him well !!!
Now it’s “barely any recollection”…ahhh they found the subsequent messages.
So he finally pleads guilty to the counts with indisputable evidence but has the audacity to claim to be the victim on first count due to ‘saved by the camera angle’ (similar to the HardRock grope). CCTV recordings aren’t the only evidence for first count…there are eye witnesses and his acknowledged assaults and subsequent messaging. And in truth if Livia had been the aggressor drunken Pig Man wouldn’t have made it to the kitchen. Cayman this guy is such an embarrassment he needs to be incarcerated..show the world this sorry excuse for a man is not representative of us nor tolerated by us.
Sustained, violent, drunken, homophobic attack on a woman. Followed by victim-blaming defense from his lawyer. He must go to prison. No question.
What we need to find out ahead of the elections next year is why none of our elected representatives, other than Mr. Miller, has spoken out in any meaningful way about this violent assault.
Mute on the subject but 2 of them defend Sandra Catron in court?
Says it all.
Steps of Parliament, 330 this afternoon. Show if you think you man.
Thats why its the law to help
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Sandra Hill got imprisoned for verbally lashing Matthew Leslie and Mac skated despite admitting physically assaulting Ms Kwong.
He is Cayman’s Trump. A wholly undeserving fraud who is supported by his deluded followers no matter how egregious his behavior.
He should have been forced to resign, and should certainly be convicted, given a custodial sentence and barred from standing as an electoral candidate ever again. He is a serial abuser and predator and an unmitigated disgrace who only brings shame on us – his fellow Caymanians. #TimesUp That the so called Unity government supported this travesty is proof of their desire to hold on to power at the cost of their own morality (if they ever had any.) Hypocrites and parasites.
Drop that Trump thing, would you? Getting old. Trump doesn’t drink and get physical with women.
You’re an idiot 10.51am
Trump commits fraud and is a pathological liar. He is also attempting to undermine and bring down American democracy. A real low lifer if ever there was one.
Put the man in jail. Damned if I will drop the Trump thing.
This is not about that decripid moron in your country. He gone. This about this decripid moron in Cayman, UK Overseas Territory, that happening now, nothing to do with USA. Welcome to your own opinion but Trump is gone.
Major problem is that Trump is not gone as he continues to engineer a coup d’etat. Pay attention.
May be, but he doesn’t go physical with women or drinks to the point of incapacitation.
Trump is totally drunk on power. Many similarities.
12:07am Where have you read of Pres Trump being drunk, attacking women and assaulting others? Oooops forgot you get CNN rite… Your statement highlights exactly what’s wrong with The Caymans:- Instead of totally focusing on YOUR island representative serious issues and the island people failure for re-electing drunks like him over & over you instead are looking for comparison and pointing fingers!
Deal with CAYMAN … BUSH is YOUR representative
An outright assault on American democracy and freedom. His top military adviser General Flynn calling for martial law.
Self pardons for Trump and all his family and many business associates.
Lock Trump up just like Bush.
Pay attention 12:40 and stop watching FOX propaganda. Biden won the election by more than 7 million votes so get over it.
You would not know someone was drunk on power even if it looked you directly in the face. Trump and Bush are cut from the same cloth, unfortunately, too many people are fooled by brilliant con men.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable McKeeva Bush.
The Honorable Dr. McKeeva Bush to you.
A knighthood coming in 2021 so get ready for Sir McKeeva.
Nope, Dr the Honourable! That’s the correct order. Dr the Honourable Frank McField, Dr the Honourable Linford Pierson, Dr the Honourable Mary Lawrence. Check the funeral programs that they all like these phony titles in when they’re doing an obituary or something.
Regardless of a conviction recorded, he has PLEAD GUILTY to an offense for which the penalty is in excess of the statutory ban to running for elected office. He must be removed immediately from any elected position, or there is NO JUSTICE in these Cayman Islands! What a disgusting example, especially for the youth of this country, to be allowed to conduct himself in this manner and essentially go free without sanction.
So he is guilty of just two assaults or all three? I don’t think that part is so clear.
Regardless, this guy is a clown and Alden will be an even bigger clown if he lets Bush carry-on as Speaker.
So now they have a drug dealer, a spouse beater and a bartender beater in the LA…show’s you what kind of place this really is. (I refuse to refer to it as a “Parliament”…its gives them far too much perceived dignity)
I will never spend a dime at Coral Beach again. I refuse to help the Bush family.
Isn’t the landlord of Coral Beach DART? Of all the people that could have been given the concession on that property…
I have never been for that reason. I was also told one of the developers of FIN was a shareholder, the one who imprisons dolphins. So double whammy really.
That’s precisely why I haven’t bought a couple of FIN units myself
Dale Crighton runs the park with the penned in dolphins. Apparently they are very happy?? He has a partner in Fin who does not live on Cayman anymore. Dale seems to be doing all of the work.
Cayman. We are watching from other shores. Will you allow this to pass? Or will you do your duty and convict a criminal ???
And, there are women on Cayman that will be watching. They represent about 50% of your population. How do you answer to them ??? We shall see !
This individual has a long history of legal ‘issues.’ What do you make of this… ??? Nothing?
Alberga’s ‘excuses’ are disgraceful, he won’t be able to travel bcos member of parliamentary assocation – remove him! Not able to travel with wife – son travel with her – he should have thought about her before now! He should not be allowed to travel- in Northward! Came from humble beginnings, so….? And on and on.. Disgusting!
He just as bad as his brederen
Disgusting creature. If he behaves this way in public imagine the behaviour at home.
Is this not then a hate crime?
Caymanian of the year. Give him a royal gong. Honorable for life. Man of the people. What a piece of sh*t.
It is unfortunate that it has all come to this…
CNS: The rest of this comment has been posted here.
So if he pleaded guilty to two of three charges, is there going to be a trial, or has that gone away???
Both him and Harris are slimy toads, undeserving of their positions.
I swear this whole system is rigged. The amount of times keke should’ve gone to jail and hasn’t is alarming. Everybody else in Government gets put through the ringer and off to jail. Why not the big fish too?! No sah
No conviction should be recorded? His lawyer must be nuts! Convict, record, incarcerate! He’s gotten away with too many crimes already!
He was very intoxicated. What an excuse to a violent assault. Time to record this and resign as house speaker immediatly. Enough is enough. He received too many slaps on the wrist in the past. Time to go Mr. Bush. No one is above the law.
I think you are about to find out that some people are. The conviction, even if recorded, will not stop him running in the May election, as it carries a maximum sentence of 12 months and does not involve dishonesty. And given the good people of West Bay re elect him time after time despite all the scandal that follows him, it seems unlikely to that a drunken, homophobic assault on a bar employee. He is still going to be there making history as the first Speaker of the the Cayman Parliament today, and he will still be there in May. Hell, he may even be the Premier.
McKeeva is headed towards big things again next year politically. He has so many political IOU’s to cash in that he is the Teflon McKeeva. Cayman Parliamentarians are afraid to say anything on the situation because he has them in his pocket.
He is a God in West Bay and will always get elected there no matter what he does. Sad reflection on our society, and West Bay in particular.
The fact that: ” Bush will be presiding over historic celebrations on Friday, when the Legislative Assembly is formally unveiled as the Cayman Islands Parliament.” is absolutely disgusting. The man has no morals and needs to be locked up and not allowed to continue in Government. He pleaded guilty to two charges. We will see if he is in fact “Teflon Mac” or just another low life politician. By the way;what you have done in the past does not forgive what you did today. If he is let off with a slap on the wrist then justice in the Cayman Islands is truly the same as a banana republic. I pray that our justice system will prove its independence, I am frighten it will not.
Me thinks he will get a fine, put it on his government credit card and get miles to go to Vegas.
If the Speaker of the British Parliament had behaved in this manner he would be booted out in short order. I find it incredible that Bush’s attorney has the effrontery to suggest that the defendant assaulted Mr Bush and then goes on to request no conviction be recorded against him, despite his guilty plea.
8:35, Your point is precisely the reason why we need direct rule. The children in our Cayman Parliament have not grown up. They are still in primary school. It is if we learned nothing at all about our Parliamentary system and how we should be acting with a level of morality and decency.
No Hubert we do not need , nor do we want direct rule. If you so desperately require Direct rule there is a simple solution…repatriation.
Thank you McKeeva for your comment on direct rule. Know you have everything under control as our great Speaker.
Repatriation to Cayman Brac?
A conviction would serve as undue punishment given his position, Alberga argued. – what the actual f***!!!
Given his position and the severity of the attack, even more reason to charge him and remove him from any position of power!
What the actual f!
When will he back in court? I want to watch court proceedings. He is a disgusting excuse and should barely be called a man… let alone be allowed by a Cabinet and Governor who ignore his own acknowledgment of pleading guilting and having the video to prove it. This is a sad day for all Caymanians, when someone can do this and still keep a seat as a representative, Speaker of the House. I’m ashamed of every single silent accomplice that sits by and allows him to take money as a paid civil servant .
I would like to visit also if anyone (including CNS) can provide this information.
I know its not a popular point in Cayman, but in most developed jurisdictions the homophobic abuse during the attack would be an exacerbating factor. Here we have a charge of common assault rather than ABH, and a surprise hearing not even on the cause list that conveniently limits public attendance. Just wait – suspended sentence at best, at worse no conviction recorded in recognition of his “remorse” – expressed 9 months after the assault and apparently to the court and not the victim. Incidentally, what happened to Ms Kwong. I struggle to believe that she is still employed by Mssrs Bush Jr and Parchment.
So basically we can all do what we want now with no consequences is what this means?
IOnly in these islands that people involved in Drugs and women beaters are allowed to run for office and the people are so fool to vote for them
Lock him up and throw away the key!
They wont and his people in west bay will elect him again just like the last time and the time before that and the time before that and the time befor that (sensing a patern?)
Tells you a little something about the people of his district
Oh yeah when i was assaulted walking my dog in town before the beginning of a concert n those old west bay men led by a certain person grabbed ny dog’s leash and tried to pull him away. Surrounded by five of them. You see how i shouted n cursed them damn bullies… Don’t pull n touch my dog!! In middle of town at early evening. Some young cayman guys going concert quietly walked over n said walk with us. Not much later that ‘ringleader’ was up for murder and jailed for ‘life’. So yes I know. Police did nothing that time.. Put it on list!
OK Alden, will you allow this man to preside over Parliament tommorow? Will you, Mr. Premier have the intestinal fortitude to put country before self, party and politics and have Barbara open the proceedings at 1000AM on Friday.
Will any MP move a motion to remove this man who by his own admission is now a convicted man, from the Speakers chair. Or which MP will have the cojones to “sit out” the meeting until such time as McKeeva is NOT the Speaker.
Rise up voters of Cayman and pay attention to your MP tommorow, whether you voted for that person or not. Let us, hold them responsible for either their actions or inactions. If they fail us, we shall fail them come May 2021.
And they call themselves honourable, shame. Shame
Maybe Saunders and Bryan will give him a character reference.🤫 but to the writer @802 PM you have said many things in few words and I agree whole heartedly with your post. Let’s see how many of them will put country before self.
Anthony Eden, I am registered in Savannah and WILL call you out right now to show McKeeva the same hatred that you showed to the gay community. Do it for COUNTRY, and do it for MORALITY. What say ye Mr. Eden???. He assaulted a female while heavily intoxicated, and this should, in fact it must be highlighted.
You need to ask young Eden apparently
@ 8:46, huh? Explain please.
Malcolm running, not Tony.
Oh, ok, thanks. Nice guy and not as “Christian” and homophobic as his father I believe.
Let’s wait and see
True dat still.
Yes, attending many funerals now apparently. Ya simply cant make this chit up.
Time to jump on that wonderful gravy train.
Lets see what happens this morning. I am guessing Alden dont have the seeds to move him and his minions will just follow along.
Unfortunately we all know the answers to your questions.
So incredibly sad and frustrating.
We will not vote for anyone in Cabinet or MP’s that allow him to continue as speaker of the House, perio
Any standing MP or would be candidate for 2021 that does not publicly condemn what Bush has done will not get my vote. What am I hearing? ….crickets……and more …….crickets…
To 8.02pm ” this man who by his own admission is now a convicted man”. He is not convicted until a court says so. The court has the power in certain circumstances to order that a conviction not be recorded.
Can you be convicted for using a bulls penis as an assault weapon.? Asking for a friend.
That depends whether it’s been freshly cut or stretch dried.
This disgraceful thug must be removed from all official roles at once. His continued occupation of any seat in the legislature, let alone the speaker’s chair, is a stain on our nation’s character.
He has had more than enough chances. He is shameless and unrepentant. He must go.
I’d love to know which brain-dead retard down-voted this comment
Does this mean he’s a criminal?
Yes, A confessed criminal.
As much one as Austin or Kenneth – both found guilt, both no conviction recorded because of their position.
All equally scumbags.
If the judge decides not to record a conviction he won’t be in the eyes of the law.
Lock him up!
Appalling.
Not only is a conviction clearly required, a substantial custodial sentence would be wholly justified, both as a punishment and as a deterrence. He can receive his counselling in Northward.
Unfortunately he was only charged with (and pleaded guilty to) common assault. Crown did him a large in that regard, as physically striking someone and inflicting injury, let alone using homophobic abuse and a weapon, would normally attract an ABH charge at least. The maximum sentence is I believe 12 months, and imprisonment for assault (which ordinarily involves no physical harm done and can be down to simply using threatening language , rather than actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm) very rare.
What is more, given the limits om the sentence, even if a conviction is recorded he will not be disqualified from running for parliament – that only applies to convictions where the offence carries a potential sentence of more than 12 months, or involving dishonesty. Irrespective of outcome, this is not going to stop him running for, or winning, a seat in May. His real concern is , as Michael Alberga expressed, whether it will stop him going on jaunts overseas or visiting US casinos. Oh, the horror – how cruel the justice system is.
In a case like this can you retain JP status or Queens awards such as MBE, OBE etc?