Archive for November 1st, 2012
Inmate releases two new novels from prison cell
(CNS): HMP Northward’s best known resident has published two more novels, which are now available in paperback. Following on from his first thriller, Caribbean Cartels, author Sheldon M Brown has now released his latest two books from the desk of his cell — Unholy Accord and Mayflower. Although Brown may be better known for his self-confessed criminal behavior, anyone who has read Caribbean Cartels will know that the former gangster has a flare for storytelling. According to his promoters, the latest two novels are both fast paced thrillers designed to keep the reader on the edge of his seat. The Cayman Islands provides the backdrop for both books in stories about international terrorism and the world of espionage.
The two new novels, along with Brown’s debut work, are all available locally at Books and Books and online at Lulu.com as well as the Amazon Kindle Store.
With a talent for writing and a knowledge of how the criminal world works, Brown has proved to be an impressive author whose stories can stand-up with the best of their genre. Since his imprisonment in 2006, after he was convicted of trying to kill Fernando Martin, the 42-year-old author has turned from real life crime and immersed himself in the crime of the imagination to share with his growing fan base.
Having studied the history of the Italian and American Mafia, dating back to the 1800s, the Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, the Mexican and Colombian Cartels, and the more recent Afro and Latin American and Caribbean gangs, Brown learned that only aroundone percent of those who live a life of crime die a natural death or are able to retire with any great wealth. Most are dead by the age of 35 or given lengthy, often indefinite, prison sentences by age 40.
Learning from history and his own personal experiences, with betrayal, assassination attempts and several trips to prison, Brown has taken another route. Regretting the decisions which kept him trapped in a life of crime for two decades, his experiences have undoubtedly added to the quality of his storytelling.
In Caribbean Cartels, Brown has tried to reach out to the wayward civil society and the government. He shows the pros and the cons of the gangster lifestyle and where it ultimately ends. Caribbean Cartels attempts to get mainstream society to understand the social ills and how they could change the disease of recidivism by assisting, forgiving, and helping to direct ex-convicts to be reintegrated into the community or saving delinquents before they end up in prison.
All of his books are intended to not only entertain but to make society take note. In his second book, Unholy Accord, he looks at the dangers of radical Islam and how easily unsuspecting countries could become targets for extremist terrorists, believing that the Cayman Islands are a potential target for such an attack. In his third book, Mayflower, he examines the unorthodox nature of the Overseas Territories governments and how greedy, power-hungry and corrupt administrators, if left to govern unchecked, could result in unintended consequences that will ultimately affect the citizens of those countries.
Despite being inside Northward, Brown is said to keep an eye on local and international politics and says citizens should take their heads out of the sand and demand greater accountability of their leaders, because what happens in Mayflower is a very real possibility.
Although Brown has served only six years of his 22 year sentence, he intends to make a career as an author and has promised his readers that his fourth book, which will be released in 2013, will be just as exciting, enlightening and entertaining as his three previous novels. He also plans an autobiography in the near future, which Brown hopes will discourage anyone who is contemplating a life of crime or may be trapped in it.
See book descriptions below:
Unholy Accord
This is a fast-paced, suspense-filled thriller about a five-man terrorist sleeper cell sent to the United States and Grand Cayman to live and blend in amongst the locals until they are instructed to carry out simultaneous attacks against both countries. The deadly biological weapon, which was constructed by Shaheed Hariri, a Hezbollah-linked Lebanese scientist who lives in the US, was designed to kill millions of people and cause fear and panic. The US government, the CIA and FBI actively seek out a world-renowned microbiologist, who they hope will be able to explain the contents of the weapon. If they don’t find an antidote soon enough, hundreds of millions of people will die and cause a humanitarian catastrophe.
The US and Cayman Islands economy are brought to a grinding halt, as the aftermath of the attacks threatens to destabilize both countries and indeed the world at large. Great Britain, the United States and other Caribbean countries come to the aid of the Caymanian people, who have never been the victims of a terrorist attack. Thousands are killed by the attack on Grand Cayman, forcing the Premier Karl Limmitts to take extraordinary measures to protect the lives of the island’s surviving residents. The crime thriller is set on Grand Cayman but the story also takes you to the mean streets of hardline Islamic states, as FBI and CIA agents risk their lives to track down an international terrorist network.
Mayflower
In his third book, Brown presents readers with a suspense-filled spy thriller that will keep them on the edge of their seats as the riveting story about greed, distrust, lust, power, corruption, betrayal and revenge unfolds. Veteran MI6 agent Natalya Pushkina is sent to Grand Cayman on a mission for Mayflower, a powerful and often deadly organization of hard-liners, composed of some elements of the British government and its intelligence services.
The group believes the islands are a liability to Great Britain, and that there may be a lot to gain by removing them from their list of Overseas Territories. Gerry Noonan, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is also the leader of the clandestine group. Noonan devises a plan that he believes will give the UK the perfect reason to sever ties with the Cayman Islands and enable him to ruin their financial industry, while shoring up Britain’s dwindling economy.
The group formulates a plan and sends a highly-trained female agent to the West Indian three-island chain with millions of dollars to set up an accounting firm called Baxter Incorporated, which is housed at Gardenia Court in Camana Bay, a few hundred meters from her own waterfront condominium.
However, Natalya, who should be spying on certain prominent people, is betraying not only her handlers but her country as well. Unknown to anyone in Britain, she is involved in a forbidden relationship with a Russian Intelligence agent, who is sending hundreds of millions of dollars through her shell company, Bristol Business Consultants. Natalya then uses the money to invest in development projects.
To facilitate her investment plans for the island, Natalya seduces a local corrupt politician, who does what is necessary to assist the MI6 agent, while lining his own pockets and his cronies as well.
But a shrewd local banker discovers serious irregularities and unexplained wealth in the bank accounts of some very prominent people, which sets off a chain of high-profile crimes that threatens the very peace and stability of this tropical paradise, forcing Governor Harry Dinspel to step in and use his executive power. He takes a drastic, but very unpopular decision to save the reputation of the islands and reinstate confidence in its administrators.
FCO flies flags ofall UK territories in London
(CNS): The Cayman Islands flag is currently flying in Parliament Square, alongside the UK’s other fifteen territories and its crown dependencies, for the first time. According to the Foreign Office, the flags of the remnants of Britain’s empire, which were hoisted yesterday, will be flown in the famous London square throughout the visit of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is in London until Friday 2 November. While the flags of the UK’s Commonwealth countries are always flown on state occasions, this is the debut appearance for those of the territories and dependencies.
The new minister with responsibility for the overseas territories, Mark Simmonds MP, said it was a sign of the UK government’s commitment to the OTs.
"I am really pleased to see the flags of the Overseas Territories being flown on a state occasion London. This brings representation of the Overseas Territories in line with the Commonwealth nations, which have long had their flags flown on such occasions,” he said. “Flying these flags is a sign to the people in the Territories, and those in the UK, of our renewed commitment to the Territories, which was outlined in our recent White Paper. I hope that this will help raise the profile of the Overseas Territories in the UK and around the world."
The flags of the Overseas Territories will from now on be flown on state occasions in London, including Trooping the Colour and other ceremonial occasions.
Gangster guilty over gun
(CNS): A West Bay man whom police suspect is a member of a local gang has been found guilty of possession of an unlicensed firearm and now faces a minimum jail term of ten years. Aaron Crawford, who turned 20 just a few weeks ago, is looking at a decade in HMP Northward after he was convicted of being armed with a Luger handgun by Justice Charles Quin following a judge alone trial in connection with an incident which occurred last November. Crawford was seen throwing a handgun into the bushes while he was chased on foot by an armed cop after his car crashed on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway.
As he read his verdict on Wednesday afternoon, Justice Quin said the case "stands and falls” on the evidence of the RCIPS uniform support officer who chased Crawford after his car had crashed into the barrier along the highway near to the Island Heritage roundabout in the early hours of 17 November.
In his evidence the officer had described seeing the weapon in Crawford’s hand as he tried to make his escape. He said the defendant ran with the weapon in the way an athlete would run holding a baton. The cop said he then saw Crawford throw the silver coloured hand gun into the bushes and watched it rotate in the air before he caught up with him and arrested the defendant. The weapon was later discovered by other officers in a search of the area where the USG officer said he had seen Crawford toss the gun.
Despite a catalogue of bungles by the RCIPS in the case, which included a gunshot residue swab taken from Crawford never being sent for analysis, crime scene photographs that appeared to show that the ammunition for the weapon had been moved, inconsistencies over what happened on the night between officers and other issues with the custody record, the judge said the evidence of the officer who chased Crawford was the crux of the matter.
Justice Quin found the officer’s evidence to be “clear and unequivocal”, despite vigorous cross examination. The judge said he did not think the USG cop was mistaken in what he saw that night and believed he had given an accurate description of the incident.
Pointing to what he described as other supporting evidence, including Crawford’s indication when he was finally arrested that his passenger, Jordon Bush, had a gun, that he had tried very hard to evade police, as well as the fact that a complaint had been made earlier in the evening by another witness that Crawford had threatened him with a handgun, the judge said he believed the defendant was “guilty as charged”.
Justice Quin also noted, in line with changes to the law, that Crawford had not given evidence in his own defence, even though the crown had produced enough evidence for a case to answer. This meant the judge could lawfully draw an adverse inference from the defendant’s silence.
Following the judge’s verdict Crawford was remanded in custody to HMP Northward and a social enquiry report was ordered ahead of his sentencing, which is set for January next year. Crawford is looking at a minimum of ten years behind bars as a result of the mandatory sentence attached to firearms possession.
Although only 20 years old, Crawford is no stranger to the prison system, having been arrested when he was just 17 years old and held on remand for the murder of Alrick Peddie for more than a year after his arrest in April 2010. However, he and two other men, Jose Sanchez and Roger Bush, were acquitted of the West Bay murder, which occurred in broad daylight in the victim’s family yard in Willie Farrington Drive in March 2010. But Crawford’s freedom was short lived as he was arrested and held on remand once again less than five months after his murder acquittal in relation to this case.
Following the verdict, Crawford’s defence counsel said he would be filing an appeal on behalf of his client as a number of questions remained unanswered in the case, regarding the weapon, which was WWII model, nine millimetre, semi-automatic Luger.
According to forensic evidence, there were no DNA or finger print matches to Crawford on the weapon, and he had no gloves in his possession when arrested. Although there was a mixed profile of DNA on the gun, which experts said could include at least two other people, Crawford was excluded from them all. There was, however, a positive DNA match from the weapon to another third party who has previous convictions for firearms offences and is also known to police as a man with gang affiliations.