Teen wife admits setting fire to husband’s home

| 06/07/2012

(CNS): A nineteen-year-old George Town woman pleaded guilty to arson on Friday and admitted setting fire to her husband’s room at a house in Windsor Park last month. Shaneeke Wellington, who is also charged with endangering life, was released on bail until her sentencing hearing in August but the judge warned the young woman that she was facing serious charges and could expect a custodial sentence. The teenage wife admitted going to the room where her husband was staying in Oak Mill Street on 17 June after the couple had argued on the previous day. She set the fire by burning tissues on his bed which also caught fire.

The fire severely damaged the man’s room and also spread to other parts of the house, from which people had to be evacuated in the early hours of the morning.

The crown revealed that, on arrest, the woman, who was very upset, had admitted that she wished her husband had been in his room when she started the blaze.

The judge ordered a social enquiry report and agreed to her defence attorney’s urgings to let his client remain on bail with an electronic tag until the sentencing hearing next month.  The lawyer said this was his client’s first offence and she was admitting reckless behaviour when she set the fire but in mitigation he would make it clear that she did not intend to endanger anyone’s life.

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Category: Crime

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  1. Kweenzinglish says:

    I can't stand the word "teen".  If it is a word at all it is a word that does not belong in the territories of the United Kingdonm.

  2. Anonymous says:

     

    Her actions were not of a mentaly stable person and she should not have been released. A psychological evaluation should have been conducted.

  3. Anonymous says:

    We ALL say things out of context when we are hurt and upset. Although I dont even know this girl she had to be abused in some way another to set the room on fire. Alot of women in Cayman are being abused severely in one way or the other. It has been so from many years, but these younger generation are not going to put up with it. Just hope that a proper evaluation will be done on this marriage. I for one dont care as long as the poor helpless women are not hurt. These men are cowards when they beat up on these poor women.

    • Anonymous says:

      Well considering you know nothing about the case, why assume she was abused? Maybe she was the agressor. While I completely support your view that abuse of any kind is wrong, you should not make comments about cases you have no idea about. These comments only tend to flare things up further. Bottom line: If your comments can't help, they may only do further damage.

      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you. There is evidence of a woman acting crazy and it somehow means they must have been abused by a man.There is a double standard here.

      • Anonymous says:

        With the amount of domestic violence that goes on in this country I wouldn’t be surprised if she was an abused woman. She is 19 and her first offense. My sympathy goes out to her being so young and having to serve time in prison if it comes down to that. I hope the social inquiry report done before sentencing will shed some light on what her state of mind was when she committed the crime.

        Don’t joke around about domestic violence. Until u walk in that woman’s shoes you can’t understand what she goes through psychologically. I know. I am one. And thank the good Lord I am a success story and not a statistic.

    • Anonymous says:

      wow the woman attempts murder…but you assume she was justified to do that based on what evidence?????

    • Whodatis says:

      Speaking as a man with a little bit of experience in dealing with today's modern woman – your post is very disturbing.

      I only wonder if you would utter the same words if it was a man accused of arson under the same circumstances?

      Many of us fail to realize the beast that this ongoing concept of 'the blameless and infallible modern woman' can become. Many consider that as a license to do any and everything, for in the eyes of society … they were victims or simply 'disrespected'.

      (Let us bear in mind that this incident allegedly took place one whole day after an "argument".)