Courts
Watson accuses prosecutor of hidden conflict
(CNS): Canover Watson has filed a formal complaint against the crown lawyer who was part of the team that prosecuted him and Bruce Blake in the CONCACAF football fraud case. Watson, a former businessman, was convicted in 2022 and jailed last year for a long list of offences. But he claims the case was politically motivated and […]
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 […]
Delays in case cut bank burglary gang’s jail time in half
(CNS) The sentences of three men convicted of an “audacious burglary” at the Royal Bank of Canada in 2016 and a woman accused of handling $4,000 of the more than CI$500,000 that was stolen were all cut by 50% on Friday because it took over eight years for the case to conclude. David Samuel Bodden, […]
Watson’s jail time cut by year, conviction stands
(CNS): Canover Watson will be serving twelve months less in jail than expected after the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal cut his eight-year term to seven last week in relation to his conviction in a $1.5 million CONCACAF fraud. However, his appeal against conviction was rejected. CICA President Sir John Golding said Watson’s convictions for […]
Failure to prosecute officials in clinic raid to be reviewed
(CNS): Director of Public Prosecutions Simon Davis has indicated he will review the decision not to prosecute any of the government officials involved in the unlawful raid of the Doctors Express medical facility in 2019. Lawyers representing the clinic filed for a judicial review relating to that decision and the failure of the authorities to […]
West Bay man admits having sub-machine gun
(CNS): Mitchell Chean Ebanks (56) from West Bay pleaded guilty on Friday to the possession of a sub-machine gun, high-capacity magazine and 29 rounds of ammunition. When Ebanks appeared in Grand Court Friday via video link, he admitted having a prohibited 9mm Luger Glock 17 handgun fitted with an automatic sear and a high-capacity extended […]
Cayman Islands Law Courts launch new website
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Law Courts launched a redesigned and more user-friendly website this morning, Tuesday 1 October. Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale said that open justice is a fundamental principle in democracies around the world and is no less so for Cayman’s courts. “Our Law Courts must, as we are now doing, consistently seek to […]
