Archive for August, 2014
Machete attack in BT
(CNS): Police have arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with what appears to be a brutal machete attack on a woman in Bodden Town this evening. It is understood that she has been badly injured and sources tell CNS she is currently undergoing surgery. An RCIPS spokesperson said officers were on the scene of the incident, which is understood to have taken place at around 6:30pm. Police have not yet stated whether the woman's attacker is known to her but other sources have reported that this is a serious domestic dispute. Police have said that further details will be released to the public in the morning. Check back to CNS for updates.
Dialysis unit not at fault
(CNS): Following the death of one patient and medical complications in three others who had all received treatment at the HSA's dialysis unit over a three day period last week, an expert has stated that the unit itself is not at fault. Although one person had a fatal heart attack and a second remains in intensive care, the implication from the Professor of Medicine and Nephrology at the University Hospital of the West Indies is that the death and the three other medical incidents are down to coincidence in a high risk group of patients. Professor Everard Barton, the regional expert in kidney disease, gave the local unit the all clear Tuesday and concluded that there was no link between it and the death or complications.
Health Minister Osbourne Bodden said that Professor Barton was brought to Cayman "out of an abundance of caution" because of the four incidents in the dialysis population, which includes around 50 patients.
"Professor Barton reviewed patient records, met with doctors, nurses and biomedical technicians, inspected machine service and water quality logs and has concluded that there is no link between the dialysis unit, dialysis treatments, medical or nursing management and those four incidents," officials from the HSA stated.
Professor Barton found that despite the patients' "challenging and complex co-morbidities, the dialysis treatments and general clinical management in the dialysis unit is exemplary". He said that the quality of the water and the management of the water treatment system all meet international standards of care.
Bodden added that he was comforted by the professor's findings but said that more importantly the expert's findings provides reassurance to the patients and staff. The minister said he hoped that any speculation about the standards or safety of the unit could "now be put to rest", as staff continue to deliver a quality service for those in need.
The minister offered his condolences to the family of the deceased patient.
Major traffic delays in Spotts
(CNS): The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is advising drivers that there are delays in traffic caused by road repairs carried out earlier today to avoid Spotts straight (Shamrock Road) if at all possible. Police are recommending that motorist use the East-West Arterial until the matter has been resolved.
NWDA must send suitable candidates for jobs
(CNS Business): There have been too many instances where candidates who are ill-equipped for the position are sent to the local businesses by the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA), according to Chamber of Commerce President Johann Moxam. It’s important to ensure that suitably qualified are identified and then sent out to the job market, he told CNS Business. Watch the video on CNS Business
Cayman U15 girls set for quarter finals
(CNS): The girls U15 squad are bracing themselves for their quarter final game against Honduras this evening after storming to the top of their group with a series of victories at the CONCACAF Youth tournament currently being hosted in the Cayman Islands. On Sunday night the girls place six in the back of the net on a rain soaked pitch against Curacao at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.. Striker Chelsea Green scored two goals in the 20th and 22nd minutes taking her tally to six and picked up her third Player of the Match accolade. But it was Halle Medina who sent almost 1700 fans crazy when she opened the score for the hosts in just the 2nd minute.
Jasmine Powery doubled the lead in the 19th minute before Green put away her two goals to secure Cayman’s spot at the top of Group A. Two own goals in the 29th, 56th minutes finished things for Curacao in the slippery conditions.
Cayman will now face Honduras at 7:30 pm this evening at the Turman Bodden with an eye to the semis.
The girls team has made their road to the next round look easy with an impressive 4 – 1 victory over the Bahamas on Friday, when Green kicked things off for the local team with a goal in the 2nd minute. Scott doubled the lead three minutes later and 11 year old Sabrina Suberan put Cayman 3-0 up by halftime. In the second half Scott got her second just after the restart, scoring Cayman’s ninth goal in two matches Lurann Brown scored a consolation goal for the Bahamians in the final minute of play.
A hat trick from Green had also fuelled a 5-0 victory over Bermuda in the girls opening match while Suberan's 23rd minute and Deondra Kelly's 70th completed the rout for the home team.
Local youngsters head to China for youth Olympics
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) is sending a team of five athletes to participate in the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in China this week in four sports. The country will be represented by Pearl Morgan who will be competing in the 200m at the track, Morgan Lloyd in Artistic Gymnastics, Polly Serpell in the Individual Jumping Event and Florence Allan and Pablo Bertan in the One Person Dingy Sailing Event. The first summer version of the YOG was held in Singapore in 2010 where Cayman sent a team of four. Competitors at these unique games which include cultural and education programmes as well as competitive sport, are aged between 14 to 18.
The programmes are based on the Olympic values that promote healthy lifestyles and allow young athletes to become well-rounded individuals with "true sporting spirits." They combine Olympic traditions (such as the torch relay) with diverse cultures to spread the Olympic spirit.
Team Cayman have begun their two day journey and will arrive in Nanjing on 13 August, with their competition beginning on 18 August after the opening ceremony on 16 August.
The committee noted that local track star Jamal Walton who recently suffered a strained hamstring at the World Junior Championships will not be able to compete and despite her great performance in Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games Lauren Hew has not been selected by the International Swimming Association (FINA) to compete.
For more information please visit the Official Website for the Games: http://www.nanjing2014.org/en. For pictures and up to date information on the Cayman Islands delegation, please visit website http://www.caymanolympic.org.ky/ or the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/
Gallery opens doors to creative careers
(NGCI): The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) has welcomed thirteen Passport2Art work experience students, and one full-time paid Summer Intern, over the summer. The work experience programme at the National Gallery is generously sponsored by State Street and gives students from a range of backgrounds the opportunity to put their knowledge to use, and to gain valuable work experience before completing their studies and joining the creative workforce. Training positions are specifically designed to introduce students to the museum and gallery industry over the summer months, matching learners with projects of interest.
See fulll release posted below.
‘Old lady’ had been arrested
(CNS): A 64-year-old witness in the trial of Raziel Jeffers for the shooting death of numbers man Marcos Duran on 11 March 2010 was arrested by police thirteen months after the incident on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, it was revealed in court Monday. Rita Martinez, who used to buy illegal lottery numbers from Duran and whose home he was visiting just before he was shot during a bungled robbery by three armed men, was summoned to court as a witness for the joint trial of Jeffers and Jordan Manderson on 18 April 2011. That trial did not go ahead as the two men were ultimately tried separately, but as Martinez, who was 61 at the time, was leaving the court a police officer asked her to come to the police station, and there she was arrested.
Rita Martinez, the aunt of Meagan Martinez, who was also a witness in this trial, said that on the night of his death Duran had come to her apartment on Maliwinas Way in West Bay sometime after 7pm. It wasn’t one of his usual nights and he had just dropped by to ask if she wanted to buy some numbers.
She told the court that she was alone in the apartment except for her common law husband’s mother when Duran arrived – conflicting with Meagan’s testimony that Jeffers had been there to give his three ‘solders’ the heads up when to rob him.
Rita Martinez said that when Duran left, she went back to her sitting room to watch TV, but then she heard a thump as if something hit the door, and when she looked through the window, she saw his body lying outside but did not see anyone else.
She had given a statement to the police the night of the murder and a second a few days later on the 15 March, and a third on 5 May that year, and in those first three statements she had not said that Jeffers was there that night. But on the 7 June, she had made another statement in which she said that Jeffers had come to her home around 7:10 that night to ask if Meagan and their baby were there. Shortly after he left Duran had arrived and Martinez said in the June statement that the two men could have passed each other on the staircase or in the parking lot.
However, in court Monday she said she had been confused by the police when she gave that statement because they had said that someone had told them that Jeffers had been there that night. When she thought about it afterwards she decided she had been wrong about him being there and stuck to this version of events on the witness stand.
Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryll Richards, QC, suggested to her that it was the June statement that was the truth and she was deliberately concealing the fact that Jeffers had been there that night because she did not want to get involved. She asked Martinez how could she not have remembered who was there on such an unusual and startling night. The crown also noted that another niece of hers, Diane, is now married to Jeffers.
Brian O'Neill, QC, for the defence led her through the events of her arrest for conspiracy to commit murder. Rita Martinez, 61 years old at the time, had come as a good citizen to give evidence on 18 April 2011 in the joint trial of Jeffers and Manderson (who was later tried separately and acquitted).
But as Martinez was leaving the courthouse, an officer had asked her to come to the police station and she had been arrested. A lawyer, Nicola Moore, had come to represent her and a prepared statement had been given to the police, in which she described herself as an “old lady who gets very confused”.
When she was summoned as a witness for Manderson’s trial she brought a letter for the judge, together with a doctor’s note, asking to be excused from giving evidence because she was very stressed and confused, suffering from acute anxiety, and was on medication for depression and other ailments.
Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, who had called the witness to the court, asked Martinez about her job at this time. She said she had been working as a human resource officer at Red Sail Sports, dealing with work permits and other staff matters.
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Customs watching out for hashish smugglers
(CNS): The customs enforcement boss has raised his concerns over a possible new trend in the smuggling of hashish into Cayman. Last week customs officers at Owen Roberts International Airport on Grand Cayman seized an undisclosed quantity of the cannabis resin from a local man travelling home from Jamaica, the second discovery in the last three months. The male passenger was arrested for possession and importation of the resin on Tuesday 5 August as he arrived in Cayman and has since been bailed while enquiries continue. The man, who is a Caymanian national, was returning home after a short vacation, officials stated, and the drug was found by officers during a search.
Deputy Collector of Customs (Enforcement) Marlon Bodden said, “Following the first arrest for hashish in May this second arrest suggests that we could be seeing an increase or new trend through the Owen Roberts International Airport. We have a zero tolerance approach to any illegal drugs; we will maintain our concentrated vigilance and wish to remind the public that offences of this nature can result in imprisonment.”
Anyone with information relating to this type of crime should contact HM Customs tip-line on 1-800- 534-8477 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS) in total confidence, or email the department at Tell.us@customs.gov.ky.
Newly convicted lifer tied knot in jailhouse wedding
(CNS): A man who was convicted last week of the murder of Robert Macford Bush in a gang-related shooting tied the knot in prison while on remand for his crime. Brian Borden, who was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence, married his girlfriend in HMP Northward in June. The pictures of Borden's wedding ceremony were posted on Facebook recently and show the couple dressed in full wedding gear just weeks ahead of Borden's trial, despite facing a lifetime behind bars. All inmates are allowed to marry if they choose and Borden and his girlfriend would have been given counseling, given his potential sentence. However, on hearing the verdict last week his new bride was distraught and collapsed outside the courthouse.
Borden, who has been in jail since his arrest almost two years ago, was found guilty of shooting Bush, his gang rival, in a killing which triggered a series of gang related tit-for-tat murders across Grand Cayman in which several young man were gunned down.
Bush was shot as he sat in his car at the junction of Birch Tree Hill Road and Capts Joe and Osbert Rd in West Bay, after crashing the vehicle in his efforts to escape the two armed gunmen.
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