Family hid from robbers
(CNS): Updated Tuesday 10:30am. Police have now confirmed that a home invasion did take place around 12:45pm yesterday (Monday 16 November) at a residence in the Snug Harbour area. CNS understands, however, that the location was Kings Court, Britannia. Police said that no shots were fired in the incident but an armed response unit was dispatched to the location, according to news footage. Police were unable to offer much information on this latest daylight robbery but said two men smashed a window to gain entry to a house and made off with an undisclosed sum of cash. Other reports to CNS suggest that the family residing in the property at the time hid from the intruders in the bathroom and no one was hurt.
It is still not known if the victims were island residents or tourists. Police said the incident is currently being investigated by officers of the RCIPS Criminal Investigation Department.
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Category: Headline News
Why don’t these high class condos have alarm systems?
Why do these homes not have an alarm?
What does Cayman law allow you to do to defend against intruders? If thugs break and enter into your home, is that sufficient provocation to defend your home and family with lethal force if necessary? ie. What amount of force are residents allowed to apply to subdue or repell these pests?
For years we never locked our doors and welcomed strangers into our home, so sad those days are behind us now.
You can use reasonable force in self-defense but it is likely that a court would not look favourably on someone who uses serious force merely in the protection of property rather than life and limb. Thankfully this is not America where you can shoot someone in the back on your lawn because you mistakenly beleive they are running away with your TV.
"Thankfully this is not America…" You are right. If it was the US, then most of these criminals wouldn’t live to see daylight tomorrow if they broke into a home. You would have less crime I promise you. Oh yeah, why is Mac bringing down US Cops to help and US Economic advisor??? It is because the British can’t seem to keep their own country in line and now Cayman sees the failed policies, procedures etc, and decided the US is closer to Cayman (geographically, culturally and otherwise), and can help out as the British have failed! You are a fool if you think criminals should have guns, but trained officers and trained citizens shouldn’t!
"trained citizens" – US gunowners are 4 times more likely to die as a result of crime than non-gunowners.
BS alert… this poster is making up bogus "statistics" to sound like they have a contribution to make. This BS "statistic" does not even make logical sense if you think about it for more than about 3 seconds.
Go back to watching cartoons now please.
This was answered on a previous post, "Residents Fight Off Burglars" posted on Friday, Nov 13th.
To briefly summarise… The precedent in UK law is that you can only defend with ‘lethal’ force if it can be proven the thug in question threatened you or a family member’s life in the home. If they were unarmed & you killed them then you can be taken to court for murder. The problem lies therein that if the burglar was armed & it was a one-man job…. who will be a dead man’s witness that he wasn’t trying to kill you? Murky waters, legally & morally.
Also discussed previously, you can’t chase the thug in question down & then shoot him, or even wound him for that matter because his running away implies that he is no longer a threat & no longer attempting to harm you or yours. And, yes, I remember in my childhood (80s & early 90s) we rarely locked our doors either.. the only unwelcome intruders we had to worry about were mosquitoes.
How am I doing Attorney Bob? 🙂
You nailed it. Weren’t you in the row in front of me in law school?
I add that the degree of force used defensively need not be measured with precision. The Courts recognize that in a "combat" situation there is no time to stand about and think about how to inflict the least amount of harm in eliminating the threat posed by the intruder. Once he’s (fully) down or retreating though, further attacks are not warranted.
I agree about the murky waters point, but for me if I find an armed intruder in my home and I have the means to put him down, I would not hesitate a moment in killing him where he stands to ensure that he does not make his way past me to my family. His very presence in my home with a weapon is, to me, a threat to my life and the lives of my children. I see no inconsistency between forcibly protecting my family from an armed intruder and the concept of law and order. Besides, I’ll take a trial by jury over standing at my family’s graveside any day. There’s just no question.
I stress that this last bit is not a legal opinion, just my pesonal thoughts on the matter.
There is no excuse for crime and more than anything I despise a Thief, but when you hear people continually harping on the Status grants and the 9000 new Permanent Residency grants, they have a reason. That reason is that now OVER 12,000 people have to find work as these people no longer need work permits and have a right to work and it is their duty to provide for their family. If there are only, say for example 30,000 jobs available in Cayman but now there are 42,000 people with the right to work, what will those that don’t get work going to do. It is not right, BUT!
Your logic is faulty, regardless of the numbers you somehow possess which I doubt the fact remains there are still over 25,000 work permits in the Cayman Islands so there are still permits that status holders trump in the work force.
They could leave to find employment like our forefathers did.
Our passports allow free entry to live and work in the whole of the EU
Camera’s won’t do any good until we get a trained Crime Scene Investigative Team and I am not talking about the Scenes of Crime unit as they call it now because that is a complete joke. We can catch any criminal red handed and as sure as daylight once they get in the court room the police have botched the evidence and crime scene so much that the criminals are let go back into society to do the same thing again.
Until the criminals see retribution this will continue. They obviously know that they will get away so why worry.
The house was clearly targeted – how else did they know there was cash in there? You find this happens all the time. Where I live we had workmen on site after Paloma fixing the roofs etc. Within a few days after they left the site, there were reports of theft from 4 different houses on the complex and 2 break-ins. These people case your house whilst they are working there, checking through windows, seeing what security you have, seeing who is home and when. Just yesterday I saw someone drive into our complex in a beat up old car, get out, look around a few houses, get back in his car and driveoff – just admiring the view, I don’t think so! Be vigilant. Even the guy mowing the lawn may be moonlighting in the evening!
Cayman does like to catch it’s burglars, if you don’t like it just get on the next plane and leave to some where that’s tuff on dem
Here is a good example of the lack of education and crumbling moral fabric in Cayman that has created a generation of lazy, inept gimps who prefer to steal from the hard workers to save themselves the effort of working for a living.
Cayman police couldn’t catch a fly if they were doused in honey.
As to your "If you don’t like it get on a plane" BS, your stupid small-minded single-digit IQ’d post lines up with all the other reasons why every person on this rock who has more options than mowing grass is looking at their exit strategy.
While we are dealing with the potential collapse of Cayman and its economy, the last thing we need is your pointless drivel. If you have nothing to contribute, please stay off the internet – you are making it worse just by opening your mouth. We have real problems to deal with here.
Oh no, we live in Terror, while the criminals run free to do as they please to WHOMEVER they please…. but let us not be uncivilized, for Corporal and Capital punishment are INHUMANE.
Tell me, WHERE is the humanity in the criminals that terrorize us? Where is their ‘Sense of Compassion’ and goodwill towards their fellow man?
I say STRIKE FEAR into the hearts of those who would seek to victimize us (Law abiding citizens).
Bring back the Cat-o-nine, and make an example out of these SOB’s for the WHOLE WORLD to see !
Dare one of them enter My Castle, for it is better I go ‘Northward’ for them, than they go ‘Northward’ for me or my family !
I keep on saying to get some cameras set up all over. This is cheap to do. All you need is 256Kpbs internet speed to fire up and the whole software. Cam range fron USD$180 to $1530 and the digital server between US$365-$635.
These units can be set up on the back wall of Galleria Plaza, Fidelity new building, light poles, fench poles and any where on/in king courts. go to http://www.fiberopticforall.com or http://www.surveillance-video.com/ to check out the systems that are availabe. You can moniter any of the new systems today via the internet, all you need is the UN & PW and you can peek- A boo and the SoB’s.
Grand Pavilion building has cams located in the back & the front of their building, maybe they captured some action.
What good are the cameras going to do when you are huddled in your bathroom to hide from thugs who broke into your house IN BROAD DAYLIGHT?!! They don’t care if anyone is at home, they don’t care if anyone sees them, apparently they don’t care if they are caught after the fact and go to Northward. When they get out for that robbery/break&enter they will simply do it again.
My parents have security cameras in and around their home. They repeatedly caught on camera a man who was breaking into cars in the neighbourhood, however, the first time around, the case had to be delayed because the police dept could not find the tape (?) & then when the tape was finally found, they didn’t bring the appropriate equipment to play the tape (??) & also no written record was kept of whose hands it passed through, therefore no record of whether it could have been tampered with (???). We had to wait until the jerk trespassed on our property again before that tape could be submitted & he be charged.
So.. to sum up, yes, the general theory behind security cameras is a good one, but the problem comes when you want to actually do something with the tape you have.
P.S. How does the average homeowner broadcasting their security cameras over the internet be secure that no one can hack into their system & subsequently track the homeowner’s whereabouts? (Not being rude, I honestly want to know… I don’t know much about firewalls, etc.)
OMG! Perhaps it is the same 2 robbers that committing these robberies at Margaritavilee and the two that were forcing themselves in that home on South Church street. With the job stoppage at the schools site, with all those laid off foreign workers, the crimes will be on the rise, as they need to send and take stuff home to their families. Please immigration, find out who these out ofwork people are and get them off these islands, before they completely ruin us. The next robbery may be Camana Bay or the Ritz Carlton as these people are getting desperate. You know that would not be acceptable with the leaders of this colony. When that happens perhaps then we may see some official actions from Immigration and the local Police.
I note the complete lack of compassion for the poor immigrant worker whose family is dependent on them when they are suddenly laid off. You talk about them as though they are so much garbage to be kicked out when the Cayman Islands have finished with them. How about protection for them?
My family grew up poor. It did not give them an excuse for crime. Those who commit burglary are selfish, greedy and probably on drugs. Unemployment is not a justification.
Read my response to backstroke. However, I would add that, while not excusing crime, there are certain factors that are going to aggravate it and leaving people desperate and despised in a country not their own is one of them. So you can continue to treat people like sh** and see the crime level rise or you can work something out so that laid off workers have some alternative.
I feel very bad for all who are suffering from the current recession and for all families who are suffering but if people are not working they need to go home. WE have enough unemployed Caymanians who are not getting any help from the Govt and are struggling as well. We are not responsible for the whole world. Maybe its time to bring back in the repatriation fee which will at least cover their air fare home and perhaps a couple of weeks salary. However, its pretty obvious if someone has no income they have to do something to survive and its likely that they will become desperate and steal. What happened yesterday seems very cold blooded and calculated. If they had discovered the people, then the outcome may well have been different. I believe that these criminals come to Cayman to commit the crimes, leave and come back when they are ready to do another job because our current border patrols and police are totally inefficient and incompetent. WE need some real FBI or similar and its time our Police received proper training in the US or UK. Cayman is not the safe crime free country it used to be and we can no longer sit back and do nothing. If I find someone in my home, then I will fight for my family and property and if I get into trouble for doing so, then so be it.
What? lack of compassion for immigrants, I do not have compasion for immigrants or caymanians that do such dastardly deeds.
A thief is a thief no matter where he’s from, so stop the crap, the caymanian family is dependant on their jobs also, that does not give them the right to break into some ones home and pilfer and harm the people. You need your head examined and maybe, just maybe you are the culprit.
Don’t be silly, Backstroke, the culprit is unlikely to be posting here. And you’re misreading my post. I’m not excusing crime, I am pointing out that too many people in this Christain and loving nation have a very callous attitude towards poor immigrant workers. It’s really shameful. Most are just trying to make a living, just like the old Cayman seamen. How would you feel if one of them had been dropped off their boat suddenly, with no money, no job and no way home? Did that ever happen?
Yes, some crimes are committed by expats. That doesn’t mean that all expats are criminals and they deserve respect as fellow human beings. That’s all I’m saying.
I am really sorry for the family involved in this horrible day time crime. But I have to express my opinion here. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. But I have noticed something going on here. Every time that a major construction site close or shut down, the crime wave looks like a tsunami within days after the closing of the site. Can it be related to the closing of the schools?
Put it that way…every week you send money to your lovely family oversea. One day, your boss tell you that is your last day. Repatriation fees? Nobody heard about it…secret rule from the immigration. How can you leave the island then??? Employers should be prosecuted for not sending their expatriate people back home after a lay off. The island will be more secure and at least somebody will be accountable for their resonsibilities! LABOR BOARD…STILL WITH US?????
So you’re really sorry for the family that was burgled but not a shred of compassion for the workers who are laid off. (Yes, I said the same thing to the other guy.) Does anyone else think that treating people like sh** is a really good way to encourage crime?
Aruba’s govt have a policy of making people put a deposit with them to pay for a ticket home if staying past 6 mos.
As far as immigrants not having money to get home, not being sarcastic, but can’t a family member send money? I would think it unfair to rely on someone else to get you back home, when you’ve made a salary! I’ve met a few immigrants that told me they were sending money home to Central America and buying ranches/remodeling their homes….And in a couple years they would have made enough to live like kings in their own country.
Cayman has a great policy of collecting repatriation fees from employers when the permit application is submitted so it is already paid for and not the workers responsibility! Unfortunately the gov was probably just pocketing that money and its all spent, hence they can’t pay for schools, nor the flights back.
Additionally – what happens when the schools start up again in a week — put all those workers back through the permit process! Wow all of a sudden it starts costing more to do business then revenue brought in, doesn’t make much sense.
"Not being sarcastic" but you are just jealous because someone can come here, bust their ass to save some money, and then go home in a better position then when they started.
LOOSER!
Hahaha, you’re too funny! As far as I’m concerned, they or whoever can swim towards ‘home’ and hope the coast guard pick them up to take them the rest of the way. Jealous! Hardly! Just tired of the "I need to feed my family"line. Everybody have families to feed!
I would never leave to go somewhere, other than my native country to bust my a$$ and then have my hand out for more, wanting people to pay my way home – you got internet access, cell phones and begging for people to pay your way home? That’s even funnier, you’re an adult. People have their own families to take care of.
Simple – make inability to pay to go home a criminal offence and offer them 12 months in Northward. I bet they could get the money together fairly quickly then!
Enough. These Bastards need to be stopped. Please – the tourist season is about to start. The Governor and the Comissioner and Immigration and the Attorney General and the Courts are responsible. If they cannot or will not stop it then tell us why. If we need to change laws or people in high positions then lets do it. The talk has gone on long enough.
"If they can not or will not stop it…" – ??!! lol That’s right. We could be crime-free it’s just that the dang expat Brits don’t want to. Dang Brits. If only we had…y’know…a police force…and if only burglary was illegal…oh, hang on…
No-one is blaming Brits. Get a grip. They are blaming a system that plainly is not working. Where is the CCTV at major intersections? Where is the deportation of foreigners resonably suspected of serious crimes? Where is the prosecution of persons providing safe haven for escapees? Where is the prosecution of persons handling stolen goods?
COME ON RCIPS, LET’S CATCH THESE SAME BANDITS THAT ARE TRYING TO MAKE US SCARED IN OUR OWN HOMES!!! This is really sad how our little island has become a haven for crime. Now that Christmas is right around the corner, I hate to say it but I think the robberies will only increase from here on out.
I have said it before and I say it again, Special Forces are needed to clean up these Thugs once and for all (it’s obvious the RCIP is not capable)! I keep hearing form some of the RCIP Officers that they know who they are, so go get them one by one, no need to lock them up and feed them 3 x day, just take em fishing and save the money for the schools!
Hark! Witnesseth the final end of prosperity in the Cayman Islands as home invasion crimes descend upon the SMB strip.
Pack it up folks. It’s game over. The game’s been called on account of crime.