Archive for January 21st, 2014
Three men arrested after another cop chase
(CNS): The police have arrested three men following another high speed chase between Red Bay and George Town. An RCIPS spokesperson stated that the chase began when the men fled from a house in Selkirk Drive after the occupant disturbed them in the middle of a burglary at his home. The suspects escaped the scene in what turned out to be a stolen car. Officers en route to the burglary report spotted the getaway car and they used sirens and blue lights in an effort to stop it, police said. However, the car failed to stop and drove into George Town, where it crashed in the area of East Boulevard and Walkers Road. The men bailed but were eventually rounded up by the cops involved.
The RCIPS spokesperson said all three are currently detained in custody after their arrest on suspicion of burglary following the series of events which had begun at about 2:40pm Tuesday afternoon. A man reported the burglary in process to the police and described the red Honda Civic in which the suspect thieves had fled.
Once spotted, the police followed the Civic to the crash location in the area of East Boulevard and Walkers Road, where the men had got out of the smashed car and had ran off towards Windsor Park. Police from uniform staff, USG, DSCTF, CID and the Air Operations Unit searched the area and two of the men were located. The third suspect was later arrested in central George Town.
Police said no one was injured in the crash and the red Honda civic, which was reported as having been stolen from West Bay earlier today, sustained front end damage but no other cars were damaged during the pursuit.
Police enquiries are ongoing and any anyone who was in the area of Selkirk Drive around the relevant time today and saw anything suspicious, or anyone who saw the red Civic before or after the burglary, should contact George Town CID on 949-4222, the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477(TIPS).
Public advised to limit dosage of acetaminophen
(CNS): The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an advisory regarding the suggested safe limits of an analgesic pain reliever used in medicines as a result of the risk of liver damage. The FDA said that the dosage of acetaminophen in prescription combination drugs should now not exceed 325 mg per tablet, capsule or other dosage unit, and pharmaceutical companies have had two years to get their drugs in order with the directive. Although the US agency has not ruled on over-the-counter medications yet, the public is advised to read the labels to check if medications contain acetaminophen.
Where this is the case, dosage should be kept within the recommended guidelines of 325 mg per tablet, capsule or other dosage unit. The maximum dose for adults is 4,000 mg per day.
The active ingredient in Tylenol, acetaminophen is also found in many other over-the-counter drugs, including some Excedrin, Robitussin and Sudafed products. Although experts claim there are no ill effects from the drug in small doses, larger doses can cause liver damage but do not necessarily increase the effectiveness of the painkiller.
Acetaminophen is also used in combination with opioids in prescription pain medications such as Percocet, Vicodin and Tylenol with codeine.
Local public health officials said that health care workers here in Cayman are being advised of the dosage limits.
For more details see the FDA advisory attached.
Lighthouse kids have iPads to help with learning
(CNS): All of the students at the Lighthouse School have been provided with iPads to improve their teaching and learning experience, officials said in a release. During the school's open house celebrations marking the International Day for Persons With Disabilities on 3 December, local residents Chris and Debora Gill presented 90 iPads to the school. In 2012, as part of the Ministry of Education’s initiative to integrate technology into the classrooms of students with special needs, 12 iPads were provided as part of a pilot project. The donated iPads have now been set up with educational software, and the department’s ICT Unit took the pads to the school last week.
Steve Durksen, ICT Manager for the ministry, said, “Tablet computing and mobile devices continue to dramatically impact education. My team and I are very excited to be working with the ministry’s ICT Integration Specialist Mr Mark Ray and the staff of the Lighthouse School to bring this cutting-edge technology to the students.
"The iPads provide an improved learning experience for the students with specialised Apps designed for students with special needs,” he added as he thanked the donors for their generosity.
Savannah and Cayman Prep to defend titles
(CUC-PFL): Supporters of “the powerful game” were treated to a youth football spectacle this past Saturday as the semi-finals in the 2013/2014 CUC Primary Football League (PFL) took centre stage at the Annex Field. To add to the excitement, there were plenty of wonderful goals, last minute heroics, brilliant goal keeping, and great team camaraderie. In the Under 9 Consolation Cup, due to a number of unavoidable reasons, George Town Primary was unable to field a full team and therefore had to forfeit their semi-final encounter to Red Bay Primary.
In the second semi-final, Bodden Town Primary defeated Truth For Youth 2-1 with Jacobi Tugman opening the scoring for the victors in the 5th minute and Breshawn McLean sealing the victory in the 36th minute.
Truth For Youth staged a late comeback after Keon Jennings pulled a goal back in the 43rd minute but the “boys in blue” left it too late and ultimately ran out of time.
In the Under 9 Consolation Cup Final, defending champions Bodden Town Primary will face Red Bay Primary.
Meanwhile, defending Under 9 champions Savannah Primary secured their place in the final after overcoming St.IgnatiusPrep 3-0 thanks to two goals from Jacquan Wray and a solitary strike from Dylan Hernandez. Savannah Primary will face Cayman Prep in the final for the second year running after the Prep boys came from behind to defeat Sir John A. Cumber Primary 2-1. “Small man” Shaunjay Bodden opened the scoring in the 29th minute for Sir John A. Cumber capping off a great run with a sublime finish only to see Tom Byrne equalise two minutes later and then secure the victory five minutes later in the 36th minute with his second strike of the game.
In the Under 9 Champions Cup final, Savannah Primary will play Cayman Prep in a repeat of last year’s final and Sir John A. Cumber will take on St. Ignatius Prep in the third-place game.
In the Under 11 Consolation Cup semi-finals, Truth For Youth avenged their Under 9 team’s loss to Bodden Town Primary with a 4-2 victory with Kenneth Challenger grabbing two goals in the 18th and 41st minutes and Oscar Hernandez securing the win in the 21st and 55th minutes.
Bodden Town’s Under 9 hero Jacobi Tugman kept it interesting with two of his own goals in the 56th and 61st minutes, the latter from the penalty spot, but it was too little too late. In the second semi-final, Red Bay Primary secured a place in the final following their enthralling 4-3 victory over a “never say die” Cayman International School side. ‘New Red Bay boy’ Brad Lansdell scored three goals adding to Alejandro Holness’ penalty to secure the victory for his new school.
Cayman International fought valiantly and came from 2-0 down and 3-2 down to almost take the game into overtime before Lansdell settled this exciting encounter in the final minute. Cayman International’s Johnathan Rado (2) and Francisco Magno scored their team’s goals.
In the Under 11 Consolation Cup final, Truth For Youth take on Red Bay Primary.
Defending Under 11 champions Cayman Prep were in top form for the second week running with a comfortable 5-0 win over South Sound Schools in the first semi-final. Igor Magalhaes, Max Palmer, Victor Thompson and Harrison Hew added to Kiran Connolly-Basdeo’s own goal to complete the scoring.
In the second semi-final, Sir John A. Cumber and St. Ignatius scrapped, battled and fought for 80 minutes through regulation time and overtime without anyone finding the back of the net. Sir John A. Cumber’s Omar Bodden and St. Ignatius’ Kai Dobbin were exceptional between the posts with both youngsters making some key saves throughout the game.
Ironically, it would be up to one of these fine young players to decide this encounter as the game moved into penalties. St. Ignatius’ Jonah Sigsworth and Corey Smith made no mistake with their penalties but Omar Bodden turned away Daniel River’s effort. Likewise, Daniel Wallace and Jahrion Bodden scored for Sir John A. Cumber but Kai Dobben thwarted Rashaad Powery’s attempt and the score after the penalty shootout remained a tie at 2-2.
Onto sudden death penalties and Liam Walton from St. Ignatius Prep made no mistake to put his school in front. Up stepped Malik Gordon for Sir John A. Cumber but found Kai Dobbin up to the task as he pushed young Gordon’s effort over the bar much to the delight of his ecstatic team mates.
St. Ignatius had survived, defeating their opponents from West Bay 3-2.
In this weekend’s final, St. Ignatius Prep will face defending champions Cayman Prep in the Under 11 Champions Cup and Sir John A. Cumber Primary will play South Sound Schools for third place.
As always, special thanks to the officials Shakur Welcome and Chastine Rankine and to sponsors Progressive Distributors.
The finals, third-placed games and trophy presentations for the 2013/2014 CUC PFL Playoffs are scheduled for this Saturday, January 25 beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Annex Field.
Police charge East End man with attempted murder
(CNS): An unnamed 48-year-old man is expected in court later today (Tuesday 21 January) facing attempted murder charges following allegations that he stabbed a 24-year-old man during a fight in East End earlier this month. The suspectwas arrested following an altercation which started at a house in John McLean Drive and then spilled into the yard on Wednesday 15 January. The victim was stabbed in the head and body during the fight and was taken to hospital on the night, while the suspect fled from the scene. Police later tracked the man down and found he also had an injury to his arm. The police arrested him but took him to hospital for treatment.
He was released on 17 January but the victim, whose condition was much more serious, remained in hospital until yesterday, an RCIPS spokesperson stated.
This was the second stabbing in the district over a five day period. A 32-year-old man has already been charged with wounding with intent and carrying an offensive weapon following an attack in which the 47-year-old victim was stabbed multiple times in his back during the early hours of 12 January in his own East End home.
Concerns raised over challenge to inquest verdict
(CNS): Lance Godenzi, the brother of Lija Godenzi, whose body was found in her apartment in April 2012 hanging from a door, has raised concerns that his sister’s estranged husband has mounted a legal challenge to the inquest verdict and is seeking to have her death declared a suicide. Godenzi told CNS that he is genuinely mystified by an application, filed by Andreas Haug, for a judicial review of the findings of the jury following the open public inquest in November. The lawyer with offshore legal firm Maples and Calder is challenging the coroner in the case, as he has accused her of misdirecting the jury and steering them towards an open verdict. Haug is requesting a verdict of suicide and not a re-hearing.
However, Lance Godenzi, who along with Haug attended the inquest at the end of last year, said his brother-in-law and his attorney had repeatedly told him that they wanted an open verdict.
“That is what the jury gave," Godenzi said in an email statement from his native Australia. “I don’t understand how Mr Haug can complain when the jury delivered the outcome which he asked for.”
Godenzi described the application for a judicial review as a "180 degree turnaround" from the submissions made by Haug’s counsel during the inquest, and hoped the Caymanian Court would review the transcript of the inquest and that he, too, would be given an opportunity to make submissions during any forthcoming legal hearing that impacted his 43-year-old sister’s still mysterious death.
Godenzi said he was content with the way thatthe coroner had conducted the hearing and impressed with how conscientiously the jury did their job. Although no verdict could bring Lija back, he said, his family now had a much clearer idea of the events leading to her death and still hoped that further evidence would come to light in the new police review underway, bringing closure for Lija’s parents, brothers, wider family and friends.
CNS asked the police for an update on the review which they said would be conducted after the jury returned an open verdict in Lija Godenzi’s death, and an RCIPS spokesperson said the review was ongoing. Although officers had assumed that Godenzi had taken her own life at the time her body was discovered, during the inquest the jury heard that there were legitimate questions about that assumption.
Godenzi told CNS that as a result of the difficult circumstances that his sister found herself in when her marriage began to break down, Cayman law-makers may want to think about changing family law for expatriate women in such a situation, where their marriages end a long way from their support networks.
“Perhaps woman who accompany their working husbands to Cayman could return to their home country with the children on some kind of ‘without prejudice’ basis to final orders so that the mother can deal with all the stresses of divorce and single mother-hood with the sort of practical support that she would have if events had unfolded in Australia,” he added.
Despite her death, Godenzi noted that there were still issues regarding the fallout of the couple’s separation because Haug has refused to let Lija’s family see the children and attempts to hold a mediation meeting between him and the grand-parents had failed when Haug recently visited Australia.
In January Haug filed an application in the Grand Court in which he said the coroner had implied he had killed his wife and of putting undue pressure on the jury to return an open verdict rather than finding she took her own life. Haug claims that the coroner in the case, Eileen Nervik, QC, misdirected the jury over the evidence they should or should not consider, that she misstated the standard of proof for suicide and prevented submissions after her summing up.
Driver dispute in fatal crash
(CNS): A woman charged with causing death by dangerous driving following a car crash in which Karen Edwards was killed in August 2011 has denied being the driver. According to the crown, Dorlisa Gavrilla Piercy was driving the car when she lost control near Lovers Wall on Seaview Road, East End. Priscilla Smith, the car’s owner, was said to have been in the passenger seat and was the only person still in the car when the emergency services arrived. Tamara Smith and Karen Edwards, who was pregnant, were in the back. Edwards was thrown from the car and killed, while Tamara Smith was able to walk away. Piercy was badly hurt and taken to hospital by someone who arrived at the scene before the police.
Piercy’s trial opened on Monday in Grand Court before visiting Justice Carol Beswick, who is presiding over the case without a jury. The court heard that the four women were returning to George Town on the evening of Sunday 12 August 2011 after spending the afternoon at Rum Point. They were returning via East End, having gone there to buy food and meet with Piercy’s boyfriend, Johnny Bodden, who was at a bar with other friends.
Priscilla Smith had driven the car throughout the day but she told the court that when they left the East End bar she was tired and did not want to drive back to town. As a result, she said Piercy took the keys and the women set off following Bodden, who was on a motorbike, as well as his friends in a car.
Alcohol is not a feature in the case, but the crown claims that Piercy was speeding when she lost control of the vehicle at around 7:15pm at the bend near Lovers Wall and the car hit a tree before overturning several times. However, she disputes that she was the driver and says that Priscilla Smith was still behind the wheel, as she had been the whole day.
However, according to witnesses at the scene and emergency services, Smith was trapped in the passenger seat, which is where Piercy, who was taken away to the hospital before any police or emergency service personnel arrived, claims she was sitting.
Meanwhile, Tamara Smith was said by witnesses to have been wandering in the crowd, notbadly injured but in shock. Edwards had been thrown from the car and was unresponsive when the ambulance personnel came on scene shortly after the smash. Edwards (24), who was seven months pregnant, was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Priscilla and Tamara Smith both told the court that Piercy was driving. When pressed by defence counsel, they denied coming up with the story that Piercy was the driver on the assumption that she had been so badly hurt they thought she would die.
Priscilla Smith, who told the court she was hospitalized for around a month and was unable to walk for more than three months as a result of her injuries, said she was unconscious for around two days. The last thing she remembered was getting into the passenger seat and dozing off, then waking up in the hospital sometime that evening and hearing voices before she drifted into sleep and did not awake until days later.
She insisted Piercy was driving and said that the police should have forensic evidence that would prove she was. The car owner said officers had taken swabs and hand prints from them all and that her own and Piercy’s prints would be on the wheel.
In addition, she said that if the police had taken the camera footage from the CCTVs outside the East End bar, there would have been no question who got into what seat when they left. However, it appears that the police never requested the footage. The witness also stated that the department of vehicle licensing had destroyed the car without her permission.
The case continues this week in Court Three.
Missing Cuban refugee hands himself in
(CNS) Updated: The 24-year-old Cuban national who escaped from the Immigration Detention Centre near Fairbanks Prison yesterday has returned to the facility. According to immigration authorities, Yasmani Ampudia Remon, who left the centre shortly before noon Monday, handed himself in on Monday evening. Remon, who was one of ten of Cuban refugees who arrived off the coast of East End on 31 December, was believed not to have gone far from the George Town detention centre. The parameter of the area was reinforced and the K9-Unit had been contacted for possible assistance.