Fugitive found guilty
(CNS): Although still on the run, Dainian Cecil Henry, who is wanted by police in connection with a firearms offence, was found guilty on Tuesday morning of being concerned with the possession and intent to supply of cocaine. Magistrate Grace Donalds read her verdict in the case in the absence of the defendant, who was also absent for his trial last month. She explained that although proceeding with a trial when the offender was not present was something the courts should rarely undertake, it was justified in a case such as this where a defendant had wilfully failed to turn up in an attempt to frustrate the course of justice.
Henry is wanted by the RCIPS following his escaped from custody at George Town Police Station on 28 October. The fugitive had been arrested at that time in connection with a separate firearms offence. Following this drug conviction, a warrant has now been issued for his arrest by the magistrate in connection with this case as well. There is currently a reward of CI$5,000 on offer, over and above the usually crime stoppers US$1000, for information that leads to the arrest of Henry or a conviction regarding the firearms arrest.
Reading her verdict in Summary Court on Tuesday 10 November, Donalds recalled how the court had heard during the trial that, while inJamaica, Henry had supplied more than 20 cocaine pellets to a witness (that cannot be named for legal reasons), which the witness had swallowed and transported to the Cayman Islands, where he was later arrested.
Donalds explained that police had also testified during the trial and corroborated the witness statements. The pellets were reportedly passed by the witness while he was in police custody and Donalds said the Crown had proved its case against Henry, regardless of his absence.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision to continue with Henry’s trial and subsequent verdict despite the fact he was not in court, Donalds said provision was made under Section 60, sub section five of the penal code. Consent was taken to be given by a defendant when he chooses not to attend, despite knowing the date of his trial. The magistrate stated that this provision for the courts to continue a trial in the absence of a defendant was to discourage offenders from unjustified absences, to encourage swift resolution of justice and to protect the interests of victims and witnesses.
In this case, Donalds noted that the defendant had no grounds of complaint that he was not heard as he had the opportunity to appear in court and was well aware of the trial date but had wilfully chosen not to attend.
Category: Headline News
What a sad state of affairs. Here we now have a convicted criminal by our courts on the run and not one single press conference by the Comm. to advise the public on what is being done to address and capture this now convicted criminal. Where is the pressure? Areraids being done at the homes of those he associated with or worked for?
alot more here on island just like him,immigration needs to dig a little deeper it would be so good for us natives if they could root them out, it would be alot less people here.
I’m all for cutting the number of criminals. but why are we focusing on the minority of criminals that are foreign. Let’s get the police out there and round up some local murderers, rapists and robbers that are being protected by their families and communities.
A criminal is a criminal, no matter what they look like, what language they speak, etc. A lot of us (in my dark moments I am guilty as well) try to say that the majority of crimes are committed by x group, always the group that we are not a part of. We try to guess the % due to newspaper stories, but the local media recently stopped publishing nationalities because of this blame game. The RCIPS does not post statistics on the nationalities of criminals… I looked.. http://www.rcips.ky/crime_statistics.htm… but what you do see is a steady rise in crime. Yes, whenever there is a population surge, crime rise, like energy consumption, is a given. My point is that regardless of who is committing the crime, the figures are only continuing to rise & we can’t continue to point fingers – we must cooperate with one another to help fix the problem because at the end of the day, your neighbour is your neighbour, any amount of wishful thinking isn’t going to change their nationality.
As for the insinuation that Caymanian families are protecting their criminals, the same can be implied about any nationality because, guess what, there are 100+ of those here, and not to say just 1 of each nationality. Furthermore, do you really believe that people only make friends with those of the same nationality as them? Are all your friends of one nationality? A little anecdote for you… Recently, there was a Caymanian from an affluent family that just seems to have a compulsion to steal things from people’s unlocked cars. When the police questioned his family they didn’t try to proclaim his innocence, but rather they said that he is a disgrace to their name & in fact deserved the beating he got from one of my neighbours when he attempted to steal something from his car. This is one example of many.
A final thought… perhaps the only goal of both of your posts was to incite a verbal war on this thread as there has been on many threads. I hope that it was more due to a lapse in judgement & that you have better things to do with your time than stir up trouble between already strained relations.
On the subject of fingerprinting, and other expensive initiatives we cannot afford, do people here seriously believe that murder fugitives apply for work permits, get police clearance certificates, or travel the way law abiding people do?
It is easy to blame Immigration, the Police, and any other bureau of responsibility you like; the fact remains that killers like this operate outside the loose moral guidelines of our community.
Changing our rules or regulations may provide the illusion to help people sleep better at night, but it will have no impact on how criminal elements conduct themselves, nor will it curtail their influx.
The problem lies in to the lazy and slackness in the police force. I would like to know how in the He!! someone escapes on foot and you can’t catch them? Maybe because it was raining and as everyone knows RCIPS is not going out in the rain they most likely got in their cars to chase him. Come on your job is to protect and serve you are doing neither. We need to get rid of the entire police force and bring in officers from the US and the UK and then successfull train Caymanian officers to do police work. The island is only about 100 sq miles and you mean to tell me that you can’t organize and team to go around knocking on doors and get a K-9 unit out there to look for this man? It is pathetic.
you are so right on with your comment. I watched the guy running in the parking lot, there were three police two guys and a woman police, the woman police started to run after him then stopped and shouted at the police men to lets go lets go then the men got in a white suv parked close to the front door of the station and drove off in the direction the guy ran towards the immigration department. I watched them return with out him and laugh to myself what a bunch of lazy police. Cayman finest did not even continue to chase this criminal on foot because it was raining.
I would like to add my taughts to this I really don’t think that he is still here. I feel that he is back in JAMAICA maybe that is where they should be looking
when he is found if he is along with someone i think they should get the same sentence as he some body feeding him for sure shame on you whoever you are.WE DONT WANT NO MORE CRIMANALS HERE!!!!!!
Agreed – especially as he escaped from the Police Station. There is a deafening silence as to how this happened and what the consequences are for the officers who had this person at the Police Station apparently not even handcuffed. Time for some accountability. We cannot allow these incidences to go unexplained and unpunished anymore. It is extremely odd that such a thing could happen and this needs to be investigated.
He is probably no longer on this island. We have open borders and it would not be hard for him to arrange transport by some boat etc. In my opinion his escape came about either deliberately or by carelessness on the part of the RCIPS. Someone should be made to pay for allowing this to happen.
There are already laws about that. Enforcement is the problem.
The government needs to enact laws that will prosecute those people who aid and abet people avoiding the RCIP or justice in any form. When one thinks about it and the size of this island it amazes me that a person can escape justice here.
Escape Justice? PUH-LEAZE! That boy was probably on the first canoe to JA as son as dusk hit!
As easy as the guns and drugs quietly slip into Cayman on the canoes from JA, the men that brought them glide off again, so it was probably extremely easy for him to catch a boat home!! He is LONG GONE off this rock!