Lawyer says 30 years is punishment enough for double killer
(CNS): Wayne Alphanso Bellafonte Jr appeared in court via video link on Wednesday before Justice Cheryll Richards for consideration of the life sentence tariff the court should pass following his conviction of a double murder in September. Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, who represented him, said 30 years was already a “very severe penalty” as she argued against a longer tariff than the one set down in law.
Bellafonte was one of three men who killed Mark Andre Ebanks (36) and Eldon Charles Walton (55) and injured a third man in a hail of bullets outside the Globe Bar in George Town over three years ago.
However, he is the only person to have been prosecuted for the murder of Ebanks, who was killed instantly, and Walton, who died two weeks after the shooting, and the attempted murder of the third victim, who has since recovered. The court heard how that victim still lives in fear for his life because at least two men who had tried to kill him for what he said was no reason remain on the road.
Bellafonte (34) has never said who his alleged co-killers were and continues to deny being involved with the murder. It was the crown’s case at trial was that Bellafonte was shot during what police believe was a gang-related killing. Another man standing outside the bar at the time, who was also armed, returned fire at Bellefonte as he and his accomplices began shooting into the crowd.
Bellafonte had claimed he was in West Bay buying and sampling ganja for his own drug business when the shooting happened in George Town and an acquaintance of his had taken his car. He claimed that as he walked along the road looking for his missing vehicle to return to his own home in North Side, he was shot during a robbery somewhere near the place where he had purchased the ganja.
But the jury did not buy Bellafonte’s story and found him guilty of both murders, the attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
As a result, Bellafonte, who has no previous convictions for violence or gun-related offences, is facing a statutory life sentence, and the court will determine the tariff he must serve before he can be eligible to be considered for parole, though this does not necessarily mean that he will be paroled.
Although he has no serious previous convictions, a double killing can, in the most extreme cases, command a whole life order, where a prisoner can never be eligible for release and is condemned to die behind bars.
But Bennet-Jenkins argued hard against a whole life order for her client, pointing out that it is the “measure of last resort”. Where it has been applied in the UK, it is either as a result of horrific and depraved murders or where a murderer has killed more than one person in separate incidents.
The UK-based lawyer who had also represented Bellafonte at trial said that given his age, his circumstances and the fact that he is in the high-risk unit at HMP Northward with barely any interaction with others or time out of the very small cell in which he is held, the statutory recommended tariff would be punishment enough.
She said 30 years in prison is already a “profound” period of time to be incarcerated, especially for a 34-year-old father with a young child and a supportive family with which he remains close.
After hearing from the lawyers, Justice Cheryll Richards said she would take some time to consider their oral and written submissions and deliver her ruling next month.
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Cayman are not for Cayman anymore , too many Jamaicans taking care of Jamaicans and don’t care spit about Caymanians and also the Policiations are Ditto, and the stupid voters keep voting them in again and again .
“She said 30 years in prison is already a “profound” period of time to be incarcerated”. Two lives were snuffed out, each of which would most likely have has move than 30 years each of continued life is this thug hadn’t ended him. This is one of the main things wrong with Cayman. These cold, hard criminals doing what they want until they are caught then the bleeding hearts appear for mercy. He showed no mercy to his victims, the victims families, or his, so why should they want the courts to show him something he denied EVERYONE else. He needs to go away for life, no parole, for what he’s done. Society does NOT need him, or anyone like him, in it.
He needs
to stay in Prison until the dead men come back to life or he dies which ever comes first. That should be the guide line for pre medicated Killers.
Thanks, made me chuckle. “pre medicated” indeed.
What an alibi: “he was buying and sampling ganja for his own drug business”…
An example must be made. Due to human rights the death sentence is not available in the Cayman Islands. In such instances as this one, it should be. The man stuffed out 2 lives and destroyed their families. What will stop the next wanna be killer?
Lawyer say 30 years are enought for 2 murders, what’s about the two lives that gone forever. Dont they and their family mean anything. I Said a hundred times, Cayman are too easy on crime and criminals, Need to be more like Singapore. It seems like money is the only thing matters in these islands now.Sad, very sad indeed.
Nah, he needs 30 yrs per life matey
Life without chance of parole! He should never see the outside again.
Him have a Child and Family but the 2 Victims gone Forever!
Victim compensation is Needed!!
After the first 20 years are up we will ask his deceased victims if we should have mercy on him. If they answer that we should, then we will. Sound fair?
“A supportive family” could be the reason why this young man is now in prison. He apparently used his mother’s car to support his drug business as it was mentioned in court he was using it the night of the murders.
I’m sure his family feels sad at the outcome but I am sure the victim’s families have more peace.
Hopefully his family can accept his wrong doing and the victim’s families can heal.
30 years is really only 10 years, 1/3 of sentence, served behind bars in Cayman.
That isn’t correct.
A 30 year tariff on a life sentence is the period of time before the offender is eligible to be considered for release, so they will serve at least that period.
For other sentences of more than one year, the offender is eligible to be considered for parole after they have served 60% of the sentence. There is no automatic right to be released.
Correct.
You two must be new here.
If that’s true, then why are the RCIPS looking for the whereabouts of recidivist burglar Romario Brown, sentenced in Feb 2023 to 5 years and 4 months?
We might like to think so, but the truth is, some recidivist Caymanians, who present a clear danger to the public interest and safety, never seem to stay in Northward very long before they are once again released, committing new crimes, and police again asking the public to tell them where they are! See Romario Brown for more info…eighteen plus sentences and he’s only 23 years old…somehow misplaced and on the loose…offending again! Let’s have a look at his parole documents to see who is signing him out and why.
Thanks again to Big Mac and his mass status grants.
Not in support of murderers but Jamaicans committing child rape and murders here are definitely getting lesser sentences than Caymanian defendants that is now a fact. Is there some reason for this Cayman or is just our imagination or is it the sinister fact our law enforcement police and prison service and judiciary is completely inundated by others.A recent aggravated Burglary where a defendant who under immigration law is not supposed to even be here on this island was given a slap on his wrist for a terrible sexual assault on a female because he was under the influence of drugs whilst committing this heinous act.Had it been a Caymanian defendant the outcome would have been different! This individual was then seen laughing and poking fun at this Farce at his sentence .He too will soon be on outside work programs at the prison like his fellow countrymen another sinister reality and very unfair situation the public may not be aware of too.
Now suddenly this thug cares about “right to family life”. Wish he cared about this much about his victims.
Dash weh de key dem