Courts
Appeal court upholds DJ’s rape conviction
(CNS): Local DJ Renato Rolando Harris (41) has failed in his bid to get his 2022 conviction for rape overturned after the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal found “no proper ground to disturb the finding of fact made by the trial judge” in this case. According to the findings of the court, Harris raped the […]
Bellafonte found guilty of 2021 double murder
(CNS): Wayne Alphanso Bellafonte Jr (33) was found guilty on Monday of murdering Mark Andre Ebanks (36) and Eldon Charles Walton (55) outside the Globe Bar on Martin Drive, George Town, over three years ago. Bellafonte was also convicted of the attempted murder of a third man and possession of an unlicensed firearm. This was the […]
Lawyer argues Watson conviction ‘politically expedient’
(CNS): Andrew Trollope KC told the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal on Thursday that the crown’s case against Canover Watson was directly connected to and influenced by the government’s goal to get the Cayman Islands removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list and the conviction is unsafe. The UK-based lawyer argued that the […]
CMR owner will argue human rights abuse in appeal
(CNS): Sandra Hill, the owner of Cayman Marl Road and online talk-show host, has been given leave to appeal a 2020 conviction and to instruct a senior lawyer on legal aid to argue the case. The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal president, Sir John Goldring, Thursday, said the case raised human rights issues. Hill is […]
Local man denies $21k car sales scam
(CNS): Dorian Dolan Hunter from Cayman Brac pleaded not guilty to obtaining property by deception when he appeared in Grand Court on Friday. The local man has denied conning two people on two different occasions out of a total of $21,000 by selling them Honda vehicles that he never delivered.
Gas station robber to serve less than 10 months
(CNS): A local man who robbed a Bodden Town gas station earlier this year, armed with a taped-up drill, will serve half of his sentence in the community, a court ordered on Friday. Jasir Matthew McLean (21) was given a 19-month sentence, half of which has been suspended for two years, for the possession of […]
Convicted killer denies jailhouse arson
(CNS): Justin Kyle Jackson pleaded not guilty to two counts of arson when he appeared in court via video link from HMP Northward on Friday. Jackson denied setting light to mattresses in a cell at the men’s prison last November. He is serving a 14-year sentence at Northward for the manslaughter of Harry Elliott during […]
Mother defends man convicted of raping her daughter
(CNS): Noel Baker (50) was found guilty last week of raping a pre-teen girl on at least five occasions between March and September, but despite the verdict, the mother of the child has taken to social media to defend the rapist and accuse her daughter of lying. The woman cannot legally be identified by the […]
Man claims he was press-ganged into holding gun
(CNS): Mikael Antonio Williams (29) was jailed for seven and a half years in December 2022 after a loaded 9mm pistol and extra ammunition were found at the George Town home he shared with his partner and her adult daughter. Williams admitted having the weapon and where it was when police arrived with a search […]
Rapist jailed for 13½ years after grooming child
(CNS): A 34-year-old man who groomed and raped a child when she was just eleven and twelve years old was jailed for 13 years and six months, having been convicted in September last year. Travis Arlington Ebanks was sentenced in April, but the ruling was only recently released by the court. Ebanks was found guilty […]
Man jailed for 18 months over impulsive robbery
(CNS): Okia Rainel Porter (23) has been sentenced to just 18 months in jail, having pleaded guilty in February to a robbery at a grocery store in West Bay late last year. The Jamaican national, who was unarmed, entered the 4-Way 24-hour convenience store on the evening of 19 November with the assistance of friends, […]
