Archive for August 17th, 2013
Ricketts guilty of murder
(CNS) Full report: Following a further two and a half hours of deliberation on Saturday afternoon, the jury trying the case against Tareeq Ricketts (22) for the murder of Jackson Rainford last December returned a guilty verdict. The George Town man was convicted of the killing and possession of an unlicensed firearm after the jury eventually found that the crown had proved Ricketts shot 23-year-old Rainford out of jealousy and anger. Rainford was killed as he sat in the passenger seat of a car just off Sheddon Road in Printers Way, George Town. Following the verdict, Ricketts was sentenced to the mandatory punishment of life in prison, after which he returned to the courts' holding cells with a composed and expressionless demeanor.
Emotions flared outside of the courtroom, however, where relieved family and friends of the deceased gathered to celebrate the fact that "justice was served". The mother of Rainford's young son told the media, "Tareek Ricketts now has time to sit down and think about what he did."
The prosecution counsel was successful in convincing the jury of Ricketts' guilt, despite his alibi of being with his girlfriend around the time of the shooting. The key witness for the crown, Tarina Tomlinson, also proved to be unreliable while givingher evidence, but Director of Public Pprosecutions Cheryll Richards was able to convince the jury beyond reasonable doubt that the man standing before the court had murdered Rainford.
The former computer technician had become angered from the morning of 16 December, as seen through anexchange of messages between him and his ex-girlfriend, when he suggested that she wanted to "run up and down" with Jackson Rainford. During cross-examination, Ricketts denied having a problem with Tomlinson being friends with Rainford. However, he had erupted and shot him when he saw Tomlinson return to her house later that night with the deceased and his brother, Che.
The crown relied heavily on Che Rainford's evidence because he was the driver of the vehicle in which his brother was murdered. Che Rainford was able to escape the vehicle and avoided a shot that was fired at him while he was running to seek help. Che's close proximity to the gunman enabled him to identify his brother's killer and support the prosecution's case against Ricketts.
The presiding judge, Alex Henderson, declined a postponement of sentencing due to the defense's inability to prepare submissions regarding the Bill of Rights beforehand. Ricketts was immediately sentenced to the mandatory life imprisonment for murder and a ten year sentence for the possession of an unlicensed firearm to run concurrently.
It was indicated by defense attorney, Prathna Bodden, that her client may be appealing but told CNS that she was unable to comment on the case.
Three arrested in road side smash and dash
(CNS): Police are currently investigating events surrounding a motor vehicle collision at Shamrock Road in the vicinity of Countryside Newlands that is unrelated to the current investigation into the Northward jail break. At around 6:45pm today, Friday 16 August, a vehicle traveling along Hirst Road collided with a utility pole, the RCIPSstated. The occupants then attempted to flee the scene and, as a consequence, two men and a woman were detained by the police. Contrary to earlier speculation, the RCIPS said that the escapees from Northward Prison were not among the occupants of the vehicle.
Anyone who was in the vicinity at the time and can assist the police with information are asked to contact Bodden Town Police Station at 947-2220.
Teen boy missing for 5 days turns up safe & well
(CNS): The family of 15-year-old Collin Anthony Solly have confirmed that the teenager has been found. The family has been worried about the young man as he had not been seen, nor made contact with his family since Wednesday 14 August. The police issued a bulletin Saturday morning shortly before he was found safe and well.
Cayman goes down 3-0 to Bermuda
(CNS): Despite the home advantage in front of an almost capacity crowd at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex, the Cayman Islands Under-15 team suffered its first defeat Friday night. In a game that Cayman had to win in order to secure a place in the semi-finalsin the CONCACAF regional development tournament, the teen players were unable to hit the Bermuda net or keep their goals out of Cayman's, going down 3-nil. Leighton Thomas Junior also lost the top goal scoring spot of the tournament when Aruba’s Jean Pierre Van Der Linden scored six of that team’s ten goals in a 10-0 win over the US Virgin Islands, bringing his goals to 9 compared to Thomas’ 8.
With only six points on the scoreboard, Cayman has slipped from first to third in group A behind the undefeated Aruba and Bermuda teams. The national team now faces the Bahamas on Sunday evening and Aruba on Tuesday and to have any chance of making the semi-finals, they must win both games and hope that Aruba beats Bermuda on Sunday.
In the other Group A fixture, Bahamas recorded its first win of the tournament with an impressive 8-0 result over St. Maarten, featuring seven different goal scorers.
Meanwhile, in Group B Guatemala rolled to the top with a 5-1 win over St. Lucia, as man of the match Esteban Garcia added three goals to help the Central Americans coast to the win. Ekiel Greenidge added the goal of honour for St. Lucia. In the surprise result of the evening, Belize powered past Jamaica, 3-1, at Truman Bodden. Alvin Sifontes and man of the match Randy Augustine had the Central Americans up two after just seven minutes, a lead they never looked in danger of losing.
Today’s games are expected to see tournament favourites Honduras continue their winning streak as well as Guadeloupe as they take on St. Kitts & Nevis and St. Martin respectively. Haiti plays Antigua & Barbuda at the Annex, while El Salvador and Martinique face off at Ed Bush Stadium, with the Central Americans looking to pull away from the group. Puerto Rico takes on St. Vincent in the final match of the evening, in what has proved the most even of all the groups to date.
News from Trinidad and Tobago revealed that the team’s failure to show up was down to the late approval of cash from the government to cover the flights, which meant the team was unable to secure the necessary seats at such a late date to get to Cayman.
See more details on the tournament below.