Canadian writer stays in jail over isolation breach

(CNS): The Grand Court, acting as the summary appeal court, has upheld what is believed to be only the second jail sentence handed down to a person breaching COVID-19 home-isolation rules. Thomas Michael, a screenwriter from Canada who arrived in the Cayman Islands in March to work on a film project, was given 30 days in prison last week after he was convicted for breaching quarantine, having removed his wristband and taken his children to the pool at the location where he and his family were isolating. He was caught by the monitoring team during a regular routine visit.

Michael (42) had initially denied the breach, which happened three days into his stay, but later admitted to taking off his wristband to enjoy the pool at the residence. However, he claimed there was no intention to breach quarantine and interact with other people. But taking all of the circumstances into account, as well as the findings of the Appeal Court in the Skylar Mack Vanjae Ramgeet case, Chief Magistrate Valdis Foldats handed down the month-long jail term.

Michael immediately appealed the case, which was heard this week by Justice Cheryll Richards, who upheld the magistrate’s sentencing on Thursday. Justice Richards said the decision by Michael to remove the wristband “struck at the heart of the government monitoring process” for COVID-19 protection protocols.

Michael’s lawyer had argued that the sentence was manifestly excessive for removing a wristband in circumstances where he had no intention to breach quarantine. The screenwriter claimed the entire ordeal had cost him $150,000 and significant emotional and mental distress. He also argued that Foldats was wrong to have applied the sentencing guidelines on breach of curfew without adjusting it to reflect the fact that he did not break isolation rules but had just wanted to go in the water, and that the circumstances of his case were very different from the Mack-Ramgeet case.

His children’s nanny, who was also charged but acquitted, has since left Cayman and returned to Canada. Michael argued that this had placed his family in a difficult position, since he was imprisoned and his wife is seriously ill but now the caretaker for their young children.

Justice Richards said there were several strong mitigating factors in Michael’s case, including the fact that he did not leave the residence, that he had received his first COVID-19 vaccine dose prior to departing for Cayman and the second upon arrival, and that he entered a guilty plea.

But Richards found that the sentence was not manifestly excessive since Foldats had started out with a sentence half the length of that given to Mack and Ramgeet, showing he was aware of the difference between the two cases. The starting point was reduced by 75% to reflect the mitigating circumstances and Micheal’s admission, she noted.