Home invader gets ‘life’ in jail
(CNS): Elmer Wright (26) is now the second person in the Cayman Islands to be given an indeterminate ‘life’ sentence for a crime other than murder. Wright, who already has a serious criminal history, was told he would have to serve at least 18 years before he is eligible for a parole hearing, with no fixed date of release. Wright was convicted this week for his part in a crime spree culminating in a horrifying home invasion in 2017.
Wright was found guilty by Justice Roger Chapple of robbery and numerous other crimes, including a foiled home invasion off the West Bay Road before the gang of robbers headed to Prospect. The night ended in the notorious robbery, in which two homeowners were dragged from their bed, tied to chairs with duct tape, threatened and terrified by three armed masked men, before being robbed of some $35,000 worth of cash and valuables.
He was also convicted of the separate offences of possessing over 100 rounds of different caliber ammunition and a bullet-proof vest.
As the judge handed down the unfixed jail term, he explained his reasoning for such a decision, which in theory could see Wright jailed literally for life. He said that each and every one of his crimes was very serious. He noted the danger that Wright continues to pose to society, given that he continued to commit crime while on bail for the home invasion and while in jail.
The court heard during the proceedings of Wright’s trial and sentencing hearings that has previously run a lucrative business from within HMP Northward selling mobile phones to inmates.
The judge said that Wright was still only 26 but had begun offending at just 15 years old, when he took part in a gas station robbery and shot at police during the getaway, and had already been given a lengthy jail term for that. Ten months after his release he was involved in this shocking crime, in which he subjected the victims to a “horrifying ordeal”.
Speaking directly to Wright, Justice Chapple said, “You have not shown one jot of remorse… and I doubt you care about anyone but yourself.”
The judge said there was a need to protect the public, punish the offender and impose a sentence, given what he called Wright’s obsession with guns, that would act as a deterrent to others. He also raised his concerns that the conviction this week for possession of so much ammunition and the vest pointed to an involvement by Wright with organised crime.
The judge added that there was no doubt Wright continues to pose a danger and risk to the wider community which, coupled with the list of very serious crimes he was convicted of this week and his criminal history, justified the life term. The indeterminate sentence means that Wright will serve 18 years before he gets the chance to convince the parole board that he no longer poses that danger.
Indeterminate sentences for those not committing murder remain controversial in the UK, where they have been used more frequently as a result of the inequities that can emerge from one offender to another for similar crimes.
Wright is only the second Caymanian to face such a sentence. The first was given to Jeffery Barnes, a serial rapist who is now serving a 21 year minimum term, which was upheld last year by the appeal court.
Security at the court was beefed up even more than usual on Friday as the sentencing judgment was delivered for Wright. The authorities believe he poses a serious risk as a result of threats he has made to prison and police officers as well as the previous incident in which he fired at officers in the wake of the Bodden Town gas station robbery.
There were five armed officers inside the courtroom and several more around the building. Wright was also flanked by around ten police and prison officers, some of whom were in the dock with him as the sentence was delivered.
- Fascinated
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Not sure I want Elmer Wright outside prison doing community service. Look at how many police officers they thought were necessary to secure him in the courthouse. Sending him to Belmarsh sounds a way better option.
Not him but light offenders could easily. He can make these damn license plates I’m waiting for. Still.
this is the start of the next generation of crime in the Cayman Islands
HMP Northward needs to become a labor camp n fix all these damn roads
They should’ve doing public service most days! Beach Cleans, touch up painting public areas, cleaning parks, roadside pick up….
We have a piss poor govt. Issues that require immediate attention are brushed off bevause it doesnt affect their asses . WE NEED ALL THEIR OLD ASSES OUT 2021 NEW FRESH YOUNG BLOOD
Life is 75-100+ Years sentences.
Not 15-25, those are called bank loans.
Fix the shitty system.
Mi nah wan deya jail wit gun man, mi fi deh pon di beach a tek sun tan!
Wibble.
Imbecile.
Theres two imbeciles here, you and the defendant lol.
This is why Cayman can’t have nice things.
Occasionally patois sounds cool and then sometimes it doesn’t. This is one of the occasions it doesn’t. Foolishness.
This man has treatable issues and obviously was never rehabilitated. However I look I see some thing fundamentally wrong with Cayman and I have come to the conclusion that it is racism, institutionalized and alive and kicking. I hope he gets a good QC to appeal his sentence because it is a ridiculous one. Good luck to anyone who is not white on that small flat rock in the sea. Rest assured that island is not in the modern world.
Troll
You wish.
Yeah, because he is black means it’s ok for him to shoot at police, bond and torture people in a home invasion and act as an armoured for criminals in Cayman. It’s just because he is black – right.
Can’t rehabilitate someone who’s never been habilitated in the first place.
Agreed. It’s a hopeless case.
1stly, I fail to see how this sentence is based on racism. 2ndly, If you and your family were broken into in the middle of the night threatened and tied up, I’m sure you would think the sentence was light in comparison to the emotional stress you and your family were put under. With your comment, I feel that you should be locked up.
10:21…I am in shock of the absolute gibberish that I’ve just read from you!
This is not about racism! This is about a dangerous repeat offender getting what he deserves to keep him off of our streets and innocent people safe from him. Comprende?
Nice try with the false race card. This dude will be “whiter” than most of his fellow inmates at northward ! He committed to a life of crime and ultimately his luck ran out like many others. End of story.
You do realize he tied up a woman and sexually abused her right ?
Your last sentence is absolutely correct. That island has barely entered the 20th century never mind the 21st.
1057; while I agree there are perhaps ‘more to go’, please be mindful that HMP is now full of murders, rapist, robbers, burglars and drug & gun runners. these violent men are a useless drain against society. However, they did not end up there on a whim; it needed hard evidence which meant good investigative work and good prosecutors and a fair and rigid criminal justice process. Emotions are understood but must be constrained to accomplish good above evil; the pen is always mightier than the sword. Keep up the good work RCIPS and DPP, our country appreciates your efforts to keep us safe. Now for parents and education to do their bit.
But those people won’t get an abortion because they don’t know how shitty they are. Their parents and their parents parents are all just shitty and it’s just a shitty circle of neglect. It’s truly sad. I’m more for forced birth control. NAU should be giving out free implanted bc and watch their enrollments start to drop.
Abortions for who exactly? Caymanians right i suppose? You are a racist and should be sent back to your dump you came from! A country in the Caribbean being cayman to be overrun with so much privileged white people in 2020 shows us just how much they have overstayed their welcomes all around the world. Now they are here as recruitment agents, judges, managers etc. you have to be blind to not see what’s up
Wait now he’s Caymanian? You guys are screaming he isn’t below. Can’t face the truth I see.
8:22 you call 11:07 a racist yet you specifically mention “white people” in your comment. Makes me wonder who the real racist is…
Go home and grow up, Sonny!
One down. About thirty more to go.
dont cause another home invasion. this is why people need to realize theyre not untouchable and stay in their place.
thats like telling people in the US you dont a
want them to have children because they have a high crime rate. sad thing is no matter how good you think you are you’re children are still just as susceptible to getting involved with crime. and can get killed just like anyone else too. sit on that one.
.
Not all children are equally “susceptible to getting involved with crime”
Correct. Recommended reading for this topic- In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate. He has incredible insights from research of how vile characters end up the way they do. Some hard truths.
If they are equally susceptible strange how the actual amount of involvement is so radically different.
Have you seen the comments on the less fact-based source of Cayman goings on? There’s almost sympathy for this poor young man!
Then there’s the whataboutism, he gets life and child rapists get 3 years etc etc. These people don’t understand that two things can be bad with no common relationship between them? Most people can agree that Wright is scum, and child rapists are scum. Don’t like the sentencing for one? Take it up with your law makers!
In third world the police and law abiders are the bad guys and the victims. Lots of third world still here.
Send him to Belmarsh UK the skooL of the real hard Knox
Parenting is the issue.
I sincerely hope he stays in longer than 18 years, at the age of 44 he will still be a monstrous threat to society, even more so having spent that long in the company of rapists, murderers and burglars.
Yes. He will be a GREATER threat. Bring back public hanging!
Nah he will be like porridge.
Magnificent! A very dangerous man off our streets. Northward is now full of violent criminals thanks to our very good criminal justice system.
Send him to prison in Cuba. Let him try to set up a cell phone business there.
Will Cuba take animals like this from Cayman?
so taxpayer will end up spending millions on this pos for the next 50-60 years….?
As opposed to leaving him out so he can steal from and terrorize taxpayers instead?
Steal, definitely yes, and most likely would kill someone before too long. Well rid of this POS off our streets. Throw away the key.
We need more and better capital punishment.
So this young man gets a life sentence for armed robberies , what terms have murderers on this island been given ? Yes he should serve jail time but is life too harsh ? Maybe 20
He got 16 years last time, reduced on appeal to 9. Commited more crimes when on bail for the latest offence. Give him 10 and he’ll be out in 10. This way he stays in for at least 18 and gets out only if found to no longer be a threat. Sounds like a good deal for the public.
same “life” sentences should apply to serial rapist…
Damn expats……
Not!!!!
Yes, actually.
He should serve his sentence in England away from these terrible family members and gangstas he hangs with.
Is he family to Devon, Duncan and Dougmore, three brothers who tore apart our schools in the 1980s? Dog City but originally from the Brac I believe?
Wrong familial connection.
Yup!! He sure is… thier his uncle’s. Go figure..
He belong to Devon. Dougmore was his uncle. Go back to Dougmore murder case… and read who was the prime suspect…
Then Duncan is his uncle too. At one time we were not supposed to talk about families causing crime in Cayman because it was “ so unfair to them.”. But the fact is, certain families, like this one, have been major major causes of indiscipline in schools and later criminal activity for several generations.
Next.
What an evil person- how does someone so young become so vile?
How does someone become so vile? The answer is, “By being allowed to”. First by his parents and then by the courts. You want to get rid of the killers and gunmen, etc.? Enact capital punishment, then ENFORCE IT! Why should decent people have to live in fear of criminals? Get rid of them….. permanently!
parenting.end of story.
And where are those parents from?
Cayman
Father from dog city mother from Honduras.
Idle mind is the devil’s workshop. When you give yourself over to the devil to use at his pleasure, there is no telling how far you will sink.
Ugh
Parents. It is almost always terrible parents. Or lack there of. I saw a lady driving home with two young children under 6 in her suv. No car seats. She was on the phone yapping away while the youngest straddled between the middle seat and middle of the front and passenger seats. No seatbelt. The 6ish year old, also no seat belt, was hanging out the window most of the time. These kids have no one who parents them or even cares beyond their own self so they do whatever. It’s sad. It’s a cultural thing I’m afraid. Kids need nurturing and rules.
I love the downvote. That person must be the lady.
Starts with the music and/or other bad influence…be it a person, feeling from lifestyle (perceived or actual), even just hard circumstances in life are probable cause and ofcourse practice makes perfect.
…also continued lack of support from the public, family, etc…its highly possible because not everyone is fortunate to have certain luxuries you too may or may not have had my G.
Boys Home
“How does someone so young become so vile?” His parents didn’t do their job!
6:07, by having the father and mother he had. Simple. Check it out.
Leave him there for the rest of his life!
Here in Cayman we are quick to blame crime on ‘foreigners”. This disgusting individual and his actions are a prime example of the the fact that many of the worst criminals on this Island are Caymanian’s, born and bred. I am very glad that the judge has seen fit to give him this sentence. He is a very dangerous individual who has shown that he cannot be trusted to behave like a law abiding citizen. Please dont let him out again. He ain’t gonna change his ways!
He deserves to locked away yes, but The most heinous crime ever committed in these islands were by 2 foreigners.. the murder of Estella scott Robert’s,,…
And they got minimum terms of 40 years. Your point is what, exactly? What he id is ok because foreigners have done worse? Or a disparity in sentencing – which doesn’t look like its true, does it?
This is typical Caymanian mindset. Foreigners do worse than us and we get the harsher punishment or the infamous, Jamaicans come here and influence our youth. Our poor helpless Caymanian children can’t think for themselves and decipher right from wrong.
In true caymankind form, most caymanians do not celebrate when foreign nationals commit savage crimes. Because it would serve as an injustice to potentially categorise all expatriates who settle here as well unlawful and criminality prone. And ultimately unlawful behaviour affects us all no matter your status.
All true, except why are foreign criminals allowed to come and settle amongst us and then once identified, permitted to stay?
Mother from Central America- country with great expertise in violent crime- murder, kidnapping etc
It is easier for a drop of oil to turn into a snowflake than for this individual to change.
Maybe if our government would spend some of that 22million on a trading school.that when our youngsters get out of school to have somthing to do would be better than talking about a new prison
The government didn’t, but Michael Myles did: http://www.inspirecaymantraining.com
Agree, however we should never slip into the mode of forgiving violent crime because of a perceived lack of opportunity; I have been all the way to the very bottom once in my life. I crawled back up and didn’t commit one crime doing so.
We should provide more training and opportunity, but when our young men and women choose a life of crime and violence, we need to recognise it is their CHOICE, and not our collective responsibility.
Really. Caymanian born and bred? You sure about that? Who’s his daddy?
Good. That’s what you get.
How about 18 years and lets call it even? Life seems a little bit harsh and likely isn’t going to deter jack squat.
18 years is too short a term. A minimum 35 years would be better. At least while he is locked up the rest of society is safer than when he is on the streets.
All unna fools commenting on marl road post on fb about he doesn’t deserve so much time…
get waken up in the middle of the night with a knife to your throat and get back to me on that one.
Agree with the last part: “ain’t going to deter jack squat”. Therefore, keep him there for life.
If you gave him 18 years he would served 60% and been paroled he won’t serve life anyway murderers don’t even serve life
What? You say life is harsh, probably won’t change anything… well, that’s why it’s indeterminate. He doesn’t change, he doesn’t leave. Seems very fair to me.
Unfortunately this young man and a number of his associates were identified very early and never settled in school because of serious disfunctional parenting among major contributing factors. Sadly, this is the outcome.We are still not able to meet the needs of these behaviorally challenged young men.
Nor will we ever be able to meet these needs, 3:47. Most of them are doomed from the day their wretched “parents’ decided to have sex. Making a family was never the purpose, having sex (and usually drugs) was. These guys like Elmer are our version of Charles Manson…no real chance of a future from the day they are conceived. And “society” did not conceive them, remember.
Bullshit!
Care to explain or do you prefer to continue to wallow in stupidity and ignorance?
Prime example of why abortion should be legal. Too many people are having kids they cannot and should not raise.
Sorry, I replied to your comment but something happened with CNS and it posted in its own comment.
We will be able to meet society’s needs in relation to people like this once we quadruple the prison capacity.
That is a load of crap. I had serious issues in school and had one.. ONE.. run in with the law for drugs and after that never had an incident because I grew a set, took accountability for my own actions and life and now I own a successful business. He had the choice to not be like how he is, he just doesn’t give a f**k. My parents didn’t help me get where I am, my father’s a drunk and my mom didn’t want anything to do with me after high school. I worked hard, did what I had to do. This ass feels he can just take what he wants and deserves everything he gets. Keep him locked up.
9:33 have you ever thought about talking to someone about your past?
Sounds like he’s doing very well. Talking is for snowflakes.
I did, many times and ti helped. I’m just making a point.
Power to you 9:33! There are plenty of people that were in your position and much worse and changed their life completely around and became very successful and lived/living great lives. I know of a few.
It’s all about the mentality and ambition. You have to have that level of drive in you to achieve success. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for this young man. Some people are just too damn lazy and want the easy way out even if it causes them to rob, rape and kill innocent people.
Bravo! Good on you for not letting your past ruin you.
hm…assuming youve sat and asked each of them individually…”what do you want” at the bare minimum?
10:18….Nope I have not “asked them” but seen a few of them turn themselves around. Unfortunately for majority of the criminals it isn’t so due to the fact that they have ZERO AMBITION to go and work for a living and would rather commit crimes against the innocent – such as this young man. I’m only sorry that the judges book didn’t hit him harder!
We are not able to meet their needs??? Why should ‘we’ adapt to them? This way sounds fair. Act like a dick, stay in prison.
Behaviorally challenged = tying someone to a chair and hotting them with a hammer = shooting at police? Think there’s a stronger term than “challenged” for that. Like psychopath. Having a tough childhood may make you act out and cross the line, but that level of violence looks like a more fundamental and probably unfix-able issue.
Congrats to the Police and DPP for getting this monster off the streets. The judge handed a sentence that had no slap on the wrist attached to it. Needless to say we will hopefully never see this scum walk our streets again. So sad for a young man to go down this road.
The sentencing is an important step is this crime and try to say justice is served.
The next step, which sadly is not followed through on, is to do a complete scan and history of this little boys’ upbringing. What was his family of origin like- from birth. What were the environmental factors that contributed to the making of a criminal of this degree? Interview his teachers. His neighbours. His childhood friends. His parents. His aunts and uncles. Was there mental illness diagnosed in the criminal, if so at what age? Where and how many times did he fall though the cracks?
And then the most important of this exercise. Publish the entire report for society to read and learn from. Help society connect what neglect can lead to in turns of outcomes. This comprehensive reporting should be an automatic requirement with any life sentence. I see this as a key way to learn and try to create value from a heinous crime and criminal.
O.K., 11:48 pm. Why don’t you get all of that information and turn this poor assole around?
Thanks for your thoughtful response. The intention of the exercise is not to rehabilitate the convicted, but to educate the parents and youth, and society as a whole, to recognize the patterns that create these criminals. Read In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and you will have a better understanding. The role of the reporting should be fulfilled by existing government offices, such as NAU, staffed appropriately of course. When we know better, we do better.