Archive for August, 2012
Mothersill ‘dejected’ over failure to run in Olympics
(CNS): Commonwealth gold medal winner and Cayman’s most successful sprinter has said that she is both “disappointed and frustrated” over the injury that prevented her from competing in the women’s 200-metre heats at the London Olympics this week. Cydonie Mothersill, who is 34 years old and suffering from an ongoing tendon injury said that she was deeply saddened by her inability to perform in what was very likely her last appearance at an Olympic games. While battling the persistent problem in her left foot, she nevertheless told interviewers she had blocked it from her mind and would compete. However, in the end she was absent from the start-up.
Mothersill had been preparing to compete on Monday, 6 August, but after consultations with her coaches and the team physiotherapist, who conceded she would do more harm if she competed, she elected to withdraw, ending her Olympic career.
“This was my fifth, and very likely last, Olympics," Mothersill said. “I came to London to compete and to represent my country and was very disappointed that I was unable to line up. I did everything possible to give myself a chance but it was not to be.”
According to a press release issued on Thursday, Mothersill was said to be deeply dejected but had accepted the move had been necessary.
“I wish it could have been otherwise, as I know the country was looking forward to seeing me compete and I was crushed that I could not deliver. However, I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to my family, friends, the CIOC, the CIAA, the Cayman Islands Government, sponsors, the many people who prayed and the countless supporters in the Cayman Islands. Sadly, while it was a difficult decision, I know that it was the right one,” she added.
Donald McLean, President of the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, expressed his own disappointment but said the decision had been “in the interests of the athlete's long-term health”.
Mothersill formed part of one of the best teams that Cayman had ever sent to the Olympic Games but was not the only one who did not compete. Fellow sprinter Kemar Hyman, who qualified for the semi-finals in the men’s 100 metres, also said he was facing an injury on the afternoon he was set to line up alongside the fastest men in the world.
Shaune Fraser was scheduled to compete in the 100m butterfly but he too pulled out of the race after reaching the semi-finals of the 200m freestyle. Meanwhile, his brother Brett competed in three races.
Ronald Forbes, who was also coming off a season plagued with injury, competed in his heats for the 110m hurdles. Forbes said that despite his troubles, nothing was going to stop him from running.
“I don’t care if my leg is dropping off, I’m going out there to represent. I did not work this hard to see beside my name ‘did not start’.” he said after his heat.
Former CI attorney general to join Court of Appeal
(CNS): A former Cayman Islands attorney general has been appointed to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. The decision was based, for the first time, on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, established by the new Constitution introduced in November 2009. Governor Duncan Taylor announced the appointment of Sir Richard Ground as Cayman's newest appeal court Judge following an open recruitment process, in which the commission advertised the post locally and overseas throughout June and July. Sir Richard currently serves on the Turks and Caicos Court of Appeal and is due to join the Bermuda Court of Appeal in January next year.
During the recruitment process the potential appeal judges were short-listed to four and Sir Richard was selected.
Prior to his recent retirement, Sir Richard was the chief justice of Bermuda, a post he held for eight years, and before that he was chief justice of the Turks & Caicos Islands for six years, and a Puisne Judge in Bermuda for six years.
He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1975 but has spent most of his career in the region. Between 1987 and 1992 he was attorney general of Cayman and he received an OBE in 1991 for services to the Islands. He was awarded a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List earlier this year for his services to justice in Bermuda.
Seventh depression of season forms in Atlantic
(CNS): The National Hurricane Center in Miami is reporting on a newly formed weather system in the tropical Atlantic that could become a tropical storm by Friday. The depression which formed this afternoon could be in the Cayman area next Tuesday, night according to the centre’s forecast of the system's potential track. At 4pm on Thursday tropical depression seven was about 1155 miles east of the Windward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 35 MPH.
The system is moving at 20 MPH towards the west and forecasters said this general motion was expected to continue for the next 48 hours. The NHC said slow strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.
If it becomes Tropical Storm Gordon, it will be the season's seventh named storm.
CS cuts will create burden
(CNS): Cutting too many jobs from the civil service would create further burdens for government coffers because the private sector would not be willing to give up enough work permits, the premier has said. As the debate rages in the community about 'big government', McKeeva Bush pointed out that it would still be the public sector that would have to foot the bill for the growth in unemployment with welfare costs if significant jobs were lost. But he pointed out that the cuts would also impact spending in the economy. Bush berated those who are calling for over 500 jobs to go from the civil service, stating that it would do untold harm to many families.
Speaking at a public meeting about the budget at the Mary Miller Hall Wednesday night, the premier denied that his refusal to cut CS jobs or other major spending areas of government, such as scholarships, the Nation Building Fund or veterans' payments, was vote buying but said it was about helping Caymanians.
Bush said that as a result of the pressurefrom the UK, Cabinet had already slashed public sector spending this year but he was not prepared to allow any job cuts. In any event , the premier continued to insist that it was not his job to cut the headcount in government as the elected members of Cabinet did not have the power. Once again, he pointed the finger at the governor as the one responsible for what many considered the inflated size of the public sector.
Duncan Taylor has stated on several occasions that while the supervision of the civil service is his responsibility through the Deputy Governor's Office, jobs cannot be cut unless the elected arm of the administration indicates its policy priorities and areas where it would be willing to reduce services. The governor still requires policy direction so the civil service management can work out where job losses should be made.
The premier made it abundantly clear, however, that he would not approve any major job losses in the public sector as it would be too damaging to too many people. He said that there were already concerns about the impact the cuts that have been made to benefits would have.
Bush said that in this budget the government had reduced spending considerably as a result of slashing the marketing budget for tourism, a fall in spending on consumables, a decrease in equity investments, the proposed sale of the helicopter, the reduction of the police housing allowance down to pre-Ivan levels and the removal of free health benefits for civil servant's dependents, whose cover will now need to be paid for. He described a policy sea-change that would require all new recruits to the public sector to contribute to their own pensions and their health cover in future.
Acknowledging the demands for still more cuts in operational expenses, he said there was a need for greater recognition by the private sector of the civil service's role in the Cayman Islands' well-being.
Bush said it was impossible to make thecuts to satisfy everyone and people had to be aware that if public sector workers lost their jobs and were unable to find employment in the private sector they would still be a burden on the public purse as government had an obligation to take care of its own people. “These are humans who have been given a contract,” he said, also pointing out the loss of spending power in the economy.
With pressure from the private sector mounting to acknowledge that the problem with Cayman's budget was not revenue raising but spending, Bush pointed to other costs in government that he did not support but was forced to find the money for.
He complained about the costs associated with the implementation of the bill of rights and legal aid spending. He said government had to find $1.8 million per year so that the person “who killed the baby in a car” could have the best QC, and while prisoners had access to better healthcare than civil servants he was not prepared to make cuts on hard working Caymanians.
Bush berated those who said he should cut things such as the money to veterans, the Nation Building Fund or scholarships. He said there was too much hypocrisy as only certain people in the past had got scholarships to go to high school or college and too many Caymanians were left out.
Bush also defended the money going to churches as he said it was to help them build hurricane shelters, which was cheaper than government funding those projects, and added that the Nation Building Fund was about the future of young people and keeping them out of jail.
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The Elephant in the Room
It occurs to me that with all this recent discussion regarding the increase in revenue we are still rather successfully managing to avoid the elephant in the room that is growing bigger with every ‘nation building’ project and every paycheck that’s written to those in charge, whose only agenda seems to be plundering the public purse for their (hopefully) last few months in office.
I am of course referring to cutting expenditure and not necessarily putting a bunch of civil servants out of a job. As much as a ‘nation building fund’ is a wonderful idea – it is hardly appropriate to be exhausting the public purse to increase the pride of a nation that seems to me to be in this mess because of an inflated pride to begin with.
Just a couple of the recent expenses that could have been avoided:
- The Premier’s ‘jolly’ to Jamaica to celebrate their independence – let’s not forget at the time he flew to Jamaica we were potentially expecting the arrival of a hurricane
- The massive delegation of Cayman Airways representatives who flew to Cuba to discuss Cayman Airways – could this have been discussed in Cayman? Could local businesses have benefitted?
- Panama Inaugural Flight (in excess of $70k)
- Awards ceremony at the Westin in order that our premier can keep the title ‘honourable’ for perpetuity. With respect to those who may be deserving of this honour, it’s hardly the time to be concentrating on what some might consider to be frivolous matters.
These may seem minor but they are literally just the tip of the iceberg – and looking at the expenditure cuts (minimal as they are) that the premier is proposing, most if not all affect the ‘ordinary’ Caymanian he claims he’s trying to save. This seems to indicate that he doesn’t consider himself to be an ‘ordinary Caymanian’ because I don’t believe he will be affected (at least not directly) by any of these cuts.
We are told (by both parties) that politicians need their inflated salaries because the politicians find themselves having to pay electric bills for those who can’t afford to pay their electricity. As generous and kind as this sounds, it is a fool’s game and reminds me of the saying, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day but teach a man to fish and he will feed his family for life.”
I say to our politicians (with respect to those with very real struggles out there trying to meet their commitments) that there are better ways to spend your inflated salaries if you are trying to do good for your country.
If you are simply taking more money than the job is worth so you can keep your people poor and helpless, then you are doing an even greater disservice to this country than abusing your positions by taking free vacations.
Range of fees to plug budget
(CNS): The financial services sector will bear the brunt of the fee increases that government will impose to replace the controversial expat tax. However, ordinary businesses will also face increases in work permit fees, starting at 5% on permits between $1,000 and $3,000 and 10% on those in the next category, increasing gradually to 20% on the most expensive management permits. Premier Mckeeva Bush said Wednesday that he hoped to raise over $44.3 million from a combination of fees with $7.8 million coming from the permit increases. Bush announced a list of fee increases, from tourism room taxes to licence fees for boats over 30 feet, to plug the budget but most of the revenue will come from the finance industry.
Speaking at a public meeting on Wednesday evening at the Mary Miller Hall for more than two hours, the premier waited until the last moment to reveal the package of new revenue measures he hopes will satisfy the UK's demand for a "sustainable and credible" budget for the 2012/13 fiscal year.
These include an increase in tourism room taxes from 10% to 13%, a departure tax increase of $10, a rise in stamp duty on some insurance policies, as well as stamp duty increase on real estate, new traffic fees, licences for boats over 30 feet that will increase incrementally on the size of vessels, fees on tobacco products and ten cents on beer bottles and cans. He said the details of the measures would all be revealed when the budget was approved by the overseas territories minister and presented to the Legislative Assembly.
The majority of the new revenue in the revised budget will come from increases on the finance industry, which Bush described as a national asset. There will be director fees, fees on master-funds, which he said would raise over $2.3 million, and an increase in the fees of limited partnerships, which should bring in around $9 million.
Together the fees will mean that the so-called 'community enhancement fee', which was a proposed tax on the earnings of work permit holders, would be scrapped. The u-turn on the contentious proposal came as a result of various groups approaching government with alternative suggestions and members of the business community making a commitment to take on more fees.
Bush said he was against taxation and that fee would have been a last resort. He said he had no intention of introducing taxes on profits, incomes, property, death or inheritance and that he had fought hard not to introduce direct taxation.
It was, he said, his intention to present the revised budget to the UK shortly and he hoped to have a favourable response next week, which would allow him to present the budget on Monday 20 August.
Although cutting things fine, this would allow the legislators ten days to debate the budget, scrutinize the spending plans and cuts in public spending and pass the appropriations bill before the government's stop-gap budget passed in June expires on 31 August .
During Wednesday night's public meeting Bush did not allow a question and answer session and there was no debate or discussion. He received some applause at times but the presentation, which was a rehash of his speech at the West Bay meeting last week, was made before a smaller and more subdued audience. Although he railed against the opposition and the press, the premier reigned in his criticisms of the governor and other public officials.
He did, however, accuse CNS and The Caymanian Compass of creating an international media feeding frenzy with their 'hysterical headlines'. Bush seemed to think that it was not the proposals to introduce a form of direct taxation to the jurisdiction that had attracted the international attention but rather the “irresponsibility” of the local media.
Although the premier was as scathing as ever about CNS, which he described in an email earlier this week as a "wutless scandal sheet", he also took aim Wednesday night at the owner of the Compass. Being the only print media, the owner was abusing his position and being irresponsible, Bush said, adding that he would be writing to the paper in response to the "licks” the local newspaper had given him this week.
Bush denied the accusations made against him of vote buying and said what he did was because he had a passion to do good. “I am trying to help people at a time when businesses are not concerned and don't understand that there are people who can't pay their electrical bill,” he said, adding that these people end up on the doorstep of every politician, including the opposition.
Given the difficult times, Bush appealed to employers to take on Caymanians and told them not to refuse people because they were over qualified. He pointed to the local unemployment problem and asked how there could be 20,000 work permits and an unemployment rate of over 8% among Caymanians.
Bush said he was introducing an additional fee that employers would pay on certain categories of work permits that were for jobs that could be taken by Caymanians and hoped this would encourage people to take on local painters, among other similar categories of workers.
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Stepping stones shine on super Saturday
(CRFU): The summer sun scorched Super Saturday as touch teams showed up and sweated for the first all-dayer of the season. Twenty-four teams, twenty-six games, 175 tries, 573bottles of water and 3,744 touches* all featured in Rounds 5 and 6 of the Cayman Summer Touch Rugby at the South Sound Rugby Ground. What happened on the day? Here is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth**: The spoils of Division 1 went to Stepping Stones who rose to the top of the table with two great wins.
Division One:Their first match, a top of the table clash with reigning champions Maples1, saw them unseat the three times titleholders 4-2. Scott McCarty, Riley Mullen, Dougie Anderson, and Vangie Raftopolous converted the chances for Stepping Stones with Adam Huckle and Jo Ziegler replying for Maples1. Ziegler, who is having a fine season with four tries in five games, did more than most to drag Maples1 back into the game, but this was not going to be her day. This is their first loss of the season but Stepping Stones have not lost a match since their inception. Is it a case of “The King is Dead, Long Live the King”? It is too early to tell as we approach the mid-point of the season but the Stones’ play with a great fluidity that is hard to repel. One thing is for sure, Maples1 won’t go down without a fight.
Stepping Stones easily beat Ogier in their second match 10-1 to consolidate their position at the top of the table, Lisa Bird putting in an MVP performance with two tries. Maples1, playing with the fury of a lover scorned, took DART apart also registering a 10-1 scoreline.
Trident Titans continued their sporadic season with a win (3-2 against DART) and a loss (0-1 Maples2). Against DART the tries came from Brad Stephenson, resplendent in Chernobyl-esque glowing orange boots, and the dashing Riley Mullen, the man who puts the whizz in “Gee Whizz, that guy is fast!” The try of the game came from DART’s big hitter Mat Bishop. Mat usually likes to position himself right of centre for the most part but uncharacteristically found himself on the left wing. Majorly uncomfortable in this ultra-neo-leftist role he took the ball and made a strong diagonal run across the pitch to his more familiar far-right position. Chased all the way by the Titans defence he dived full length registering on impact a whopping 6.9 on the Richter scale, and a 1.0 on the scoresheet.
Maples2 pushed themselves into third with a 2-2 draw against KPMG1 and a hard fought 1-0 win over Trident Titans. KPMG1 bossed the early exchanges and scored two first half tries much to the chagrin of the Maples2 players. Nothing galvanizes a team more than a sense of (rightly or wrongly) perceived injustice and they came out in the second half and took control of the game. Upping the tempo they replied with tries from Marc Randall and Justin Colgan. In the end they had the majority of possession but could not converttheir chances. Against Trident Titans it was Andrew Dean who profited from an excellent break from Marc Randall at dummy half to score the only try of the game. It may have been low scoring but the quality was high and the intensity extreme. The Titans could not break through often only a fingertip touch away from a vital score.
Ogier maintained their 100% record of the season but unfortunately all the entries are in the “L” column. Losses to Genesis Five Nations (2-5) and Stepping Stones (1-10) hide the fact that Ogier have a great team spirit and work very hard during the game but they struggle to score and with only 12 tries all season the need for some game breakers is evident.
Genesis Five Nations had a mixed bag of results with a win over Ogier (5-2) and a defeat to KPMG1 (4-5). Their day reflected their season so far but the spirit in the camp stays strong as they look toward players returning so they can make a push for the play-offs.
After three defeats at the start of the season KPMG1 are now undefeated in three and are showing real signs of promise and progress. In their second game against Genesis Five Nations, Michael Sumares again showed why he was missed in the early part of the season by scoring another hat-trick. His shuffling side-step caught the Five Nations defence flat-footed. Dan Andersen, captain of Genesis Five Nations, weighed in with two tries and an MVP performance but further KMPG1 tries for Ryan Eisenhammer and Grant Cellier sealed a valuable win 5-4.
Division two:
Division 2 saw its own top of the table clash between Harmonic and the Heineken Light Maidens. With both teams undefeated this season everyone was expecting fireworks but sadly it was not to be as Harmonic suffered from a much depleted squad and had to start the match with only four players instead of the pre-requisite six. The Heineken Light Maidens, hell-bent on usurping them from the table top, were stunned when Rob Aspinall crossed for the opening try. Resplendent in fingerless gloves and aviator shades and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Ponch from CHiPs, Aspinall scored after a superb offload from Scott McCarty. The Maidens win-at-all-costs mentality soon had them back on the front foot and three first half tries were a decisive blow. By the time the rest of the Harmonic squad eventually turned up the writing was already on the wall and it said “Heineken Light Maidens 6 Harmonic 1”.
Broadhurst finally got their first win of the season with a 4-1 win against Rawlinson & Hunter. Under the baking midday sun Broadhurst stuck with their sartorial policy of “80’s aerobics purple chic”. These athletes in amethyst may have been sweating more than Rush Limbaugh at a Barack Obama Look-a-Like contest but one could now see the benefit of wearing their puce-coloured bandeaux. With eyes free from stinging perspiration Broadhurst ran in four tries with Scott Murray (2), Tess O’Connor and team captain Kate McClymont providing the inspiration for victory. Defeat for Rawlinson & Hunter saw them hit the bottom of the table and with a further defeat from Harmonic in Round 6 they demonstrated all the bounce-back-ability of a cow-pat hitting the sidewalk from 12 stories – these are tough times for the Hunters’ whose season is going down faster than Monica Lewinsky on a bobsleigh.
Walkers Blue Iguanas had a splendid time with two victories. Walkers’ James Melen had an awesome day at the office with 3 tries against DMS and another in their 5-2 win over Campbells. Legal eagle Mr. Melen won’t be billing out his time on the pitch however, I’m not sure the Blue Iguanas could afford him on this form. Their fabulous five-piece band of boys – Rolf Lindsey, James Melen, Paul Smith, Martin Davies, and David Byrne may not be as good-looking, talented or rich as the Backstreet Boys, but they certainly displayed the co-ordinated footwork and harmonious interplay that would make Nick, Howie, A.J. and the others who no-one can remember proud. When asked if he was happy with Walkers’ season thus far Melen replied, “We need to Quit Playing Games because I Want (to play) It That Way in every game!” Just as he finished the rest of the guys joined him in close-harmony singing and laid down some cheesy 90’s dance moves. Curious.
After a slow start to the season Deloitte are starting to realise some of the potential they showed on Seeding Day. Two wins over DMS (7-2) and Island Heritage (7-1) moved them into second spot. Recently shorn Alastair Lum contributed two tries per game, but it has been the addition of Robbie Cribb which has taken this team to the next level. Four tries against DMS and another against Island Heritagemade him joint highest scorer on the day. They will need to spread the tries out though if they are going to challenge the Heineken Light Maidens for the title as any key injuries or absences later in the season could de-rail their campaign.
UBS and DMS suffered double defeats. UBS seem to have found themselves a little firecracker of a player in Agueda Broderick who outsprinted Campbells’ nippy Dicky Thomas for her inaugural try in touch rugby. In the match itself though, Campbells proved too strong as their experience players started to become increasingly influential. Tries for Wiki Hitchman (2), and the venerable old guard of Peter de Vere (2), Marcus Cumber and Johnny Doak secured all three points. DMS lost to Walkers’ (2-7) and Heineken Light Maidens (1-8) in a day they might rather forget.
Island Heritage’s unbeaten record came to an end with two crushing 7-1 defeats to Deloitte and Broadhurst. The wheels seem to have come off their wagon for the moment and they need to recapture their early season form if they are going to get in the play-off places.
Division Three
The top two in Division 3, Zolfo Cooper and Delta Force, both recorded valuable wins. Zolfo Cooper beat Ernst & Young (5-1) and Credit Suisse (3-0). Katherine Maw was a stand-out player for Zolfo Cooper although this team share out the tries nicely which goes some part in explaining why they top the table.
Delta Force, with captain Jyoti Choi as their guru and inspiration, notched up close wins against KPMG2 (5-3) and LIME (5-4). It was nail biting stuff for the onlookers but there is always the sense that Jyoti can always pull something special out of the bag. As he ran in his third try against KPMG2 a cheeky re-working of the Beethoven symphonic classic “Ode to Choi” could be heard coming from the crowd. In their second game against LIME it was Rupert “the” Bell whose adventures on the pitch gained him two tries and an MVP award. They’ll be singing in the streets of Nutwood tonight.
Credit Suisse, GCM, LIME and KPMG2 came away from the day with one win and one defeat each. Whether the glass is half full or half empty for these guys will depend on how they perceive their performance in the games. Special mention must go to Natalie Larkman (KPMG2), Niall O’Sullivan (GCM), and Johann Prinsloo (Credit Suisse) who although ending up on the losing team all won the Player of the Match award. Great work folks!
Ernst & Young and Queensgate Grizz’s Old Fellas are locked in battle in the basement of Division 3. The Old Fellas haven’t won a game and Ernst & Young’s only win was against the Old Fellas. It doesn’t really matter though, this Division is meant to be the “friendly” league and these two teams typify that ethos. Points are few and far between and they may have to wait until they meet again in Round 10 before they get the chance for anymore. Mind you, nothing surprises me in touch rugby, other than a Queensgate Grizz’s Old Fellas victory that is.
*more or less
**allegedly
Leaders and speakers now forever ‘honourable’
(CNS): As the budget crisis in Cayman raged on, the premier and a number of other local dignitaries secured their honorary status in perpetuity. Following last month's announcement that former speakers and leaders of the country will hold their "Honourable" moniker forever, which received considerable derision from the wider community, the premier hosted an official ceremony recently where past and present political leaders and speakers of the Legislative Assembly were presented with their certificates affirming their honorific title for life and beyond the grave.
Premier McKeeva Bush handed over the documents proclaiming the endless honour to former Speaker and National Hero Sybil McLaughlin, former Speakers Edna Moyle and Linford Pierson, as well as the present Speaker Mary Lawrence, and former Leader of Government Business Truman Bodden.
Meanwhile, the premier received his eternal award from Cabinet Secretary Orrett Connor, who served as Master of Ceremonies for the occasion.
Although Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, a former speaker of the House, and former leader of government business Kurt Tibbetts are also entitled to the perpetual distinction, they were unable to attend. The late Captain Mabry Kirkconnell, a former speaker, and Thomas Jefferson, a former LOGB, also received their posthumous honour, which was marked by a moment of silence
Connor said the eternal honour is one of a number of initiatives introduced by McKeeva Bush to recognise those who have given notable service. Others include the new local gongs, the Order of the Cayman Islands awards that are given out during the National Heroes Day, which were described as “significant steps in the Premier’s nation-building efforts.”
Connor also praised the premier for expanding government’s summer internship programme, which enables young Caymanians to gain work experience and learn about how government functions.
Expressing his appreciation for the dedication to country shown by the recipients of his new lifetime and beyond honour, Bush said it was an acknowledgment of hard work and diligent attention to the onerous tasks of high office.
“I am elated that today we are continuing on this path of bolstering our collective self-worth,” he said, adding that he hoped that various strategies of nation building would impact the younger generations positively, inspiring them to emulate the honourees’ achievements.
He said the nation building initiative, which has run into a considerable degree of controversy because of the money given away under the scheme without proper scrutiny, was about identifying national symbols and recognising outstanding people as national heroes.
He also pointed to the re-naming national institutions after stalwart Caymanians who have contributed to the country’s success.
Despite the premier’s claims there were more than 140 comments made by CNS bloggers last month when the announcement was mostly deriding the decision.
Related story and comments:
Inmate’s jail time slashed by nine years on appeal
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal has overturned a conviction for attempted murder and replaced it with the offence of wounding with intent in connection with a case that the police believed was an attempted ‘hit’ gone wrong. Carlney Campbell was 18 when he was convicted of trying to kill José Morales in an elevator at the Treasure Island Resort on West Bay Road disguised as a police officer. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail last October but that prison term was significantly reduced on Friday to only six years, in line with the revised conviction, cutting nine years from the original sentence. The panel of senior judges found that there was no evidence of intent to kill and the judge should not have directed the jury accordingly.
However, during the appeal hearing the panel found that the jury had been properly directed in connection with the identity of the perpetrator and that they had sufficient evidence on which to arrive at the conclusion that Campbell, who is now 20 years old, was the attacker, even though they altered the offence.
The dispute over the intent to kill boiled down to one comment the victim claimed the man who stabbed him had said. When giving his evidence, Morales said that when he struggled with his attacker and for a moment gained the upper hand, has assailant had said, “I’m sorry, man. They paid me to do it,” and it was on this basis that the attempted murder charge was made.
The judges stated, however, that there was no evidence to explain what "it" was and the court had been wrong to assume it was murder. As a result, the judges overturned Campbell’s attempted murder conviction and substituted it with the lesser offence of wounding with intent, which was an alternative count that had been placed before the jury.
At the time of the trial last year it was revealed that the teenager had succeeded in stabbing Morales in the head. The prosecution believed Morales was the wrong man in a paid assassination attempt that had failed. Morales was trained in martial arts and he survived to tell the tale of how Campbell had tried to trick him by dressing up in blue police overalls.
Campbell had protested his innocence all along, stating that it was a case of mistaken identity, but the crown had claimed the real mistake in identity was that of the victim, since Morales swore under oath that he had no idea why he was attacked and had heard the comments from his assailant that he had been paid to commit the attack. However, the police were unable to ascertain who the real intended victim had been and there was no other evidence that Campbell was attempting to execute a hit.
The crime took place in an elevator at Treasure Island Resort, where Morales lived. What he believed was a police officer in blue overalls walked past him as the elevator arrived, and Morales got in the lift. After the door closed it re-opened and the 'police officer', who turned out to be Campbell, walked in. Morales tried to walk out but Campbell told him that he should get back in and, thinking he was a real police officer, the victim asked if there was a problem.
Campbell forced Morales to turn around and face the wall as the elevator door closed. Campbell tried to tie Morales' hands behind his back with plastic string and produced a knife which he put in to his back.
As Morales was young, physically fit and trained in martial arts, he was able to turn suddenly and grab the knife by the blade, hit Campbell with his right elbow and knock him off balance. As they struggled, Morales overpowered Campbell and held the knife to his throat, which is when Campbell told him he had been paid to "do it".
Morales asked who paid him but got no answer and instead Campbell bit him on the arm forcing himto release his grip on the knife, at which point Campbell stabbed Morales in the head. Morales threw some punches but sustained a further stab wound near his ear. Eventually, Campbell dropped the knife and fled before Morales called 911 for help.
The Court of Appeal said the wounds sustained by Morales, despite being to the head and neck, were part of an unexpected and undirected struggle between the two men and were not evidence of an intention to kill but that Campbell stabbed in the easiest direction to get away from his victim, who was fighting back.
See related story: 15 years jail for AEC alumnus
Generation Now takes on budget crisis
(CNS): Local think tank Generation Now, which is developing a reputation for providing a credible forum for interesting debate on some of Cayman’s most contentious issues, will be tackling the budgetary crisis on Thursday. The group has pulled together a diverse panel to discuss what has become that latest problem on the government’s agenda. Cayman Finance chair Richard Coles, former deputy governor Donovan Ebanks, Opposition Leader Alden McLaughlin, Independent MLA Ezzard Miller, and Chair & Professor of Business Studies at UCCI Dr Robert Weishan will be tackling the thorny issue of public finances. However, ironically, because of the crisis the UDP government said it could not participate.
The event will be held at the Harquail Theatre at 7pm Thursday, but in an effort to encourage a bigger live audience it will not be aired on radio. Austin Harris will be moderating the debate and organisers are asking those coming to the event to contribute $10 on entrance to defray the expenses incurred in hosting the forum.
See flyer below.