Courts
Man charged with raping woman in parked car
(CNS): Police have charged a 31-year-old man from George Town with rape. The man appeared in court today and was remanded in custody. The charges stem from a report of a sexual assault that took place around midnight on Tuesday in a parked car at Seven Mile Shops plaza on the West Bay Road, north […]
Visiting ‘card skimmer’ jailed for over four months
(CNS): A Bulgarian national was arrested by Customs and Border Control (CBC) officers last month when he arrived at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA) on a flight from Toronto, Canada. During the X-ray of his luggage, officers found suspicious objects concealed inside a laptop that were suspected of being used for skimming debit and credit […]
Jury discharged halfway through murder trial
(CNS): Justice Cheryll Richards discharged a jury of eight women and four men on Tuesday, exactly one week after the crown opened its case against Kirk Lindsay Watler (55) from Bodden Town for killing George Ian Duffle (51) in October 2022. The judge released the jury for legal reasons, and in a brief explanation in […]
Ritz masseur jailed for 5 years for indecent assault
(CNS): A hotel masseur was jailed for five years on Monday following his conviction for indecently assaulting a client during a massage at the Ritz-Carlton just over one year ago. Rahul Manhukumar denied the allegation but was convicted in Summary Court. The case was moved to the Grand Court for sentencing because the magistrate considered […]
Cop acquitted of misconduct in ‘love triangle’ case
(CNS): Police Sergeant Keren Watson (44) wept in the dock with relief on Tuesday after a jury of three men and three women returned a not-guilty verdict, and Justice Cheryll Richards told her she was free to go. Watson was accused of misusing the police database by accessing unauthorised information about a married woman who […]
Over a dozen people in court over DVDL $100 ‘bungs’
(CNS): Around a dozen people appeared in Grand Court last month facing corruption charges in relation to $100 bungs allegedly given to government officials at the Department of Vehicle and Driver’s Licensing to get their cars through the inspection process. The case is already presenting problems for the crown as it appears that many of […]
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 […]
Two men jailed over illegal automatic guns and drugs
(CNS): Two local men in unrelated cases were jailed this week after admitting to possession of illegal guns modified into automatic weapons and significant quantities of drugs. Jay Calvert Ebanks (31), a local boat captain from Savannah, was given eight years and nine months for possession of a gun converted from a semi-automatic to a […]
Crown: Jealousy drove police officer to misconduct
(CNS): Prosecutor Earl Pinnock told a jury on Tuesday that Police Sergeant Keren Watson was driven by jealousy when she used her position as a member of the RCIPS to access information about a love rival, which she used to bully and intimidate. As Pinnock, a UK-based attorney, opened the crown’s case against Watson for […]
Appeal court to hear crown on Bush’s stalled assault case
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal has agreed to hear the prosecution argue why an indecent assault case against former premier McKeeva Bush should not have been stopped and why the crown should still be able to try Bush on the allegations. However, the appeal will not be heard until May next year, which […]