Archive for October, 2014
Cops merge robbery enquiries
(CNS): Following a spate of armed robberies in George Town and the Seven Mile Beach area the RCIPS Serious Crime Task Force has consolidated the enquiries as a result of some links. While they do not believe that all of the recent robberies in the streets and at restaurants and gas stations are the work of the same two men, there are links between some of the crimes. Following the increase in August of robberies, Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay said a decision had been made to pull the investigations together and tackle them under one senior investigating officer and a combined investigation team instead of treating each enquiry in separate silos.
Kay said the idea of a major central incident room for the robberies was fuelled due to the escalation in the severity of robbers, as some of the culprits were turning on staff and customers and taking their belongs, and not just.targeting cash from the registers. Given that trend, he said, the incident room was established to tackle it head on.
He pointed to the recent robberies at tourist restaurants Coconut Joes and the Fish Shack, where customers were targeted and where the modus operandi were similar. Kay said they were motivated by money and the type of goods that can easily be sold. Nevertheless, he did not think the robberies were part of an organised criminal gang or ring but were random attacks.
The senior officer said the RCIPS was conducting high visibility and covert patrols and checking business to reassure the public and business owners, as well as assisting the investigation team.
Speaking on the morning after another robbery, which happened on Sunday evening at a George Town gas station, Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton said he wanted to reassure the public about what the RCIPS was doing to get the right culprits into custody.
“We are doing everything possible to trace and locate these individuals,” he said, adding that there had been 29 robberies so far this year compared to 39 last year over the first ten months of the year. Pointing to the effort made by the RCIPS, he said so far this year 26 arrests had been made for robbery and another 114 arrests for burglaries.
He said it could be a handful of people committing the same burglaries but he believes there are as many as 150 burglars on the streets of Grand Cayman.
Over the last two weeks, Walton said, around 50 individuals had been stopped and searched and police patrols had visited and checked over 80 business premises, including the latest gas station targeted by robbers on Shedden Road. He said police had been highly visible in George Town and on the Seven Mile Strip and officers were getting out of their cars and moving through the community, talking to business owners.
Despite the surge, Walton said he was keen to get the message out that Cayman is still one of the safest places and dispelled the myth that crime is increasing. He said this year there had been 538 burglaries, compared to 565 over the same ten months last year.
While these figures may seem high, Walton said, the perception about crime getting worse is incorrect. He noted that the figures in the early 1990s for burglaries were almost double that, running on average over 900. The chief superintendent said the major difference between then and now was the transparency as there were many more media houses reporting and documenting crime, which did not happen in the past.
Riders take part in international jump on home soil
(CNS): Isabelle Smith on Edson Arantes became the first rider to take the championship trophy when the Cayman Equestrian Foundation hosted the FEI’s World Jumping Challenge for the first time. Smith entered the contest with four other local riders Alexandra Rado on Larkin, Polly Serpell on Calidad, and Amara Thompson on Rumour Has It. The competition is designed for riders who cannot easily travel to international shows because they live in remote locations. As well as getting individual placing within their geographic zone, the best three riders constitute the Cayman Team and are given a ranking alongside other teams in the region.
After all the horses had passed the vet jog, the riders competed over the first course. Rado was first to go and had one knock down posting four faults. Thompson and Smith followed her and did the same, each posting four faults, whilst Serpell clipped two fences, finishing round one on eight faults.
In the second round of the day, Smith posted the first clear round of the day, with Rado and Serpell both having one knock down resulting in four faults each. Thompson had three knock downs and an additional penalty for cantering in the compulsory trot section, finishing round two on 16 faults.
In the first round of the second day, the third round of the competition, Smith and Thompson posted four faults, each having one knock down and Rado posted eight faults for two knock downs. Unfortunately for Serpell, her horse refused the same fence twice resulting in her elimination.
The final round was a ‘jump off’ of sorts, with time coming in to play in the event of a tie on overall faults for the winning place. Rado finally got the clear round she coveted along with Smith and Serpell. Thompson finished the day with fifteen faults in the final round.
After the faults from all four days were tallied, Smith was declared Champion, Rado Reserve Champion and Thompson was placed third. These three ladies now form the Cayman Team for the competition.
Sharon Hinds, president of the CIEF said for many years it had been a goal to host this contest locally and she added, “It gave the four riders who entered some great competition experience on FEI designed courses and a ranking in the region for themselves and for the team.”
George Town gas station robbed
(CNS) Updated: Staff at a George Town gas station on Shedden Road became the latest victims at the weekend in the recent spree of armed robberies. A report was made to the police at about 8pm on Sunday evening that a lone masked man man armed with what appeared to be a handgun robbed the store of cash at the Rubis Service Station. The robber wearing dark clothing , a blue hoodie and a blue mask entered the premises and stole cash. He is described as approximately 5’ 6” tall and of slim build and spoke with a Caymanian accent. The suspect fled the gas station on foot in the direction of Thomas Russell Way. No injuries were reported.
The matter is under investigation by detectives from the Drugs and Serious Crime Task Force and any one near the Rubis gas Station on Shedden Road between 8:00pm and 8:10pm are asked to contact George Town Major Incident Room tip-line 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers on 800 8477(TIPS)
Local swimmers head to Qatar for international meet
(CIASA): The Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association (CIASA) has announced the athletes who will represent the Cayman Islands at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Short Course Championships taking place in Doha, Qatar, December 3rd-7th, and at the FINA Youth Programme, taking place December 2nd – 7th, also in Qatar. Athletes representing the Cayman Islands in the World Swimming Short Course Championships are: Lara Butler, Lauren Hew, Brett Fraser and Geoffrey Butler. The team will be accompanied by CIASA Technical Director Bailey Weathers who will serve as Team Manager and Head Coach.
The Team was selected by CIASA using a power point system which ranks each swimmer's best long course times from the previous 12 months and then assigns them a ranking based on points earned. With two slots for women and two slots for men to be filled, the top two ranked swimmers – female and male – earned spots on the team.
Because the athletes live in different places (in the Cayman Islands, USA or UK), they will travel to Doha separately – with departure dates dictated primarily by school concerns – arriving on either Nov 30th or December 1s.
Also taking place in Doha, Qatar, is the FINA Youth Programme, running concurrently with the World Swimming Short Course Championships, Dec 2 – 7th. The youth program, designed to be an educational experience, a cultural experience and motivational experience for young swimmers will provide Cayman’s two young swimmers with great experience and inspiration.
To be selected for this Youth Programme, swimmers needed to be born in 1998 to 2000 and may not be participating in the World Championships. CIASA selected Cayman’s two athletes – one female and one male – using a power point system and are sending Catriona MacRae and Jonathan Key. Travelling with MacRae and Key will be Team Manager Ms. Claire Critchley.
FINA provides financial support for this trip and schedules, and pays for, the participants’ flights; and attendance at both these events is made possible by CIASA, in partnership with FINA* (Fédération Internationale de Natation, in English this is the International Swimming Federation).
Haines jogs through ‘fair city’ for 5th marathon
(CNS): Cayman’s veteran marathon man completed Dublin’s annual 26-mile plus street race Monday, marking his fifth marathon in his challenge Six4hospice. With a lingering ankle problem, Derek Haines jogged round the course in a respectable four hours and fifteen minutes just days after his 66th birthday. The veteran distance runner has already completed a staggering challenge, having run five marathons so far this year — but it’s not over yet. Haines has one final pavement pounder to complete on home turf in December, when he hopes he will have raised the $1 million to build a local hospice facility.
Speaking from Dublin Tuesday, Haines told CNS that his Dublin time was a tad slower than he had hoped. At the half way mark he was on target to get under four hours but the effects of an infected ankle and the medication took its toll after 18 miles or so.
“No complaints though and I enjoyed the day,” Haines said. “The crowd was great and old friends now living there cheered me on along with my wife Helen. The celebratory pint of the City's famous product with sponsor Peter Kandiah was fortifying afterwards. The fund is now very close to 800K and I am hoping for a surge in support as the final marathon in the challenge on 7th December in Cayman gets closer.”
Some 14,000 runners took part and the men’s race was won by Kenya’s Eliud Too in a time of 2:14:48. His fellow countrywoman, Esther Macheria, edged out last year’s winner Maria McCambridge to claim first place in the women’s race in 2:34:15. First across the line was wheelchair participant Patrick Monaghan in a new record time
Since beginning his amazing feat in Paris back in April this year, Haines has completed marathons in London, Pamploma, San Francisco and now Dublin, and will be completing his challenge with the local marathon, where Haines may find he has one or two supporters in the crowd to help carry him round.
Anyone wishing to donate to the local hospice challenge or see more information visitthe website:six4hospice.com/
UK blamed for lifers’ tariffs
(CNS): The opposition leader, the member for East End and government’s veteran back bencher for Bodden Town all railed against the UK last week during the Legislative Assembly debate on the conditional release bill. The new law, when it comes into force, will, among other things, introduce a tariff system for prisoners serving life sentences. This means that anyone convicted of murder, which calls for a mandatory life sentence, will now have a possibility of parole once they have served an estimated thirty years. However, many members were unhappy about the change and blamed the UK for imposing this new regime for lifers.
Arden McLean suggested Cayman was “enslaved in the colonial system” and perhaps the time had come “to part ways so we can be in control of our own destiny".
Although most members in the House supported the bulk of the law, which also deals with the management, rehabilitation and supervised release of all offenders, some were concerned that those serving full mandatory life sentences would no longer necessarily die in jail.
The current government has introduced the tariff system to comply not only with Cayman’s Constitution and its Bill of Rights but with the international treaties signed by the UK. The FCO had also made it clear that either CIG dealt with the question of possible parole for lifers or it would impose the tariffs.
McLean expressed his concerns about the fact that local politicians are not in control. He said it took him a long time to come to terms with that because he had entered politics to make a difference but learned that there was in reality little he could do, since Cayman had others who were “masters of our destiny". McLean also raised concerns about liberal judges and those who, he said, would “let their friends" out of jail.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush also blamed the FCO and expressed his concerns. He added, “We are living in perilous times.”
Bush said he believed in human rights but he also believed in an eye for an eye. Bush said that crime had increased since the abolition of the death penalty in Cayman, which he said was also forced upon the country by the UK. The opposition leader questioned whether or not 30 years was enough to punish or deter cold blooded murderers.
Railing against what he said were the double standards of the British, he pointed to discussions in the UK about imposing a life sentence without parole for people who kill police officers. Bush said the UK was taking away Cayman’s choice and he believed that criminals would take advantage of the human rights obligations that government had. He said that although he appreciated the position government was in and supported the rest of the bill, he could not support the introduction of a 30 year tariff for life.
The Progressive’s veteran politician, Anthony Eden, the deputy speaker and first elected member for Bodden Town, was also scathing about human rights as he too railed against the UK and the enforced abolition of the death penalty and now the opportunity for killers to be released.
“We have got to stop the mollycoddling of criminals,” he said, adding that he believed people werescared to come out of their homes. He took aim at the police and questioned what the law enforcement agencies were doing and said the “pussyfooting around” had to stop. Eden said that when he saw what was happening, he had to wonder about the UK's agenda regarding the Cayman Islands.
“They come at us with so many different angles … we can’t seem to satisfy these people,” he said, referring to the British government.
Eden lamented the amount of money spent on prisoners and said he wished the same amount of time and money could be given to the elderly and those who were in need.
Although the members who spoke during the debate on the bill focused on the 30-year starting point tariff, the term served by anyone given a life sentence will not, in fact, be limited to 30 years. In the first instance, judges will have some flexibility to increase or decrease the tariff according to the extenuating or mitigation circumstances of the cases that come before them.
Once a tariff is set, that indicates the minimum term that the offender must serve before he can be considered for possible, but by no means certain, release. The lifer will then appear before the Conditional Release Board, and if they believe he is still a risk to the community in any way, he will remain in jail — and that could mean for the rest of his life. Only if all things point towards successful rehabilitation will the board set a release date.
Lifers will, however, remain under supervision for the rest of their lives, and should they commit an offence of any kind, they will be returned to jail and may still serve the rest of their days behind bars.
The change in the life sentence will address the section of the Bill of Rights which deals with cruel and inhumane treatment. The idea of sentencing someone to life in prison without any hope of every being released is considered torture.
In addition, experts say that when there is no hope of release and nothing to lose, rehabilitation and control of inmates can be difficult.
See related story on CNS: Lifers get 30-year tariffs
Minister emphasizes public accounts improvements
(CNS): Despite the damning revelations about the state of government book-keeping in the latest auditor general’s reports the finance minister insisted on Friday that things were improving. Marco Archer told his legislative colleagues that since those reports were undertaken the current government has made a number of changes and is committed to improving the management of the public finances. The minister said that there had been important personnel changes in the ministries which had been exposed has having the most problems. Archer said he now expected the quality of financial reporting to improve. He added that there would be amendments to the PMFL to address other concerns as well.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Friday about the reports conducted by Alastair Swarbrick’s team at the auditor general’s office and made public last week, Archer said there were still challenging times ahead with a lot of work to do but he said solutions were being developed. He said the current government inherited the current position but having campaigned on a ticket of transparency he said that the government would do all it could to achieve transparency in public finances.
He said over 90% of government entities received qualified or unqualified reports for the year ending 2012 but admitted that the quality of the overall government accounts would depend on every entity. If just one entity was disclaimed or received an adverse opinion the entire public sector statements would be disclaimed. Archer said it has been agreed with the auditor general that governments entire consolidated accounts for the year ending 2013/14 will get a qualified opinion but government was committed to achieving an unqualified opinion for this fiscal year’s accounts.
The minister said he and government finance officials have met with the auditor general to address the issues which are causing the continued disclaimers as he said the auditor was not satisfied that many of the financial statements were complete, accurate or fairly presented with insufficient evidence to support the balances.
He said as a result of the meeting the finance ministry was now developing a standardized submissions package to help the ministries and public authorities present their accounts and supporting documentation properly.
Acknowledging the concerns he said there was a concerted effort to strengthen internal controls to improve efficiency, safeguard assets and improve reliability and compliance with laws. However, Archer also noted that future valuations of government capital assets would also be done in the required format showing a full breakdown of the government’s property assets.
See related story on CNS and the OAG's latest reports below
DLP and NWDA take field trip to Cayman Brac
(CNS): Representatives from the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA) and the department of labour and pensions will be visiting Cayman Brac this Wednesday and Thursday (29 & 30 October) to help both employers and employees, as well as assisting job seekers and employers lookingfor staff. The team will help those looking for work complete the intake process and help bosses post job vacancies. The DLP representative will be available on Thursday to deal with or follow up on any employee or employer issues or disputes, as well as receive walk-in clients.
The DLP agents will also and conduct on-site visits to workplaces as necessary. The DLP intends to conduct two short workshops in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in late November, and registration for these will commence during the visit. Appointments can be made by calling 948-0626 but walk-ins are welcome, officials said.
The Big Man Break
The Criminal Procedure Code of the Cayman Islands sets out offences which allow the police to arrest people without a warrant and those crimes which are not. It is a useful guide for those UK policemen hell bent on arresting a judge if the government is to avoid paying out millions of dollars. Nearly all offences are in fact arrestable but for a few exceptions.
Public officials arrested for fraud, neglect of official duty or disobedience of lawful duty are specially exempted from arrest and the public humiliation that other citizens have to regularly suffer.
Some public officials are arrested and in one unfortunate incident a policeman was found thereafter hanging from a tree Wilderness Drive. Others may end up on a yacht in the North Sound waiting for their summons to arrive.
There is no official policy on apology or notice of innocence or compensation if you are found innocent after a time before the courts. You have to return to society and endure whispers and the cutting of eyes as you pass by. Just this week a young man who was accused of complicity in murder and his bail objected to by the DPP suddenly found that he was discharged from the Grand Court and all charges dropped. This is also true for a traffic charge or minor offence. This is a frequent occurrence that should be studied to avoid repetition. More effort has to go into decisions on who is to be charged.
The Premier and Minister of Home Affairs has been silent on these matters that affect some of the people and their family that will have a decision at the ballot box.
Visitor with gastroenteritis stirs up Ebola scare
(CNS): A woman visiting Cayman from the USA is at the George Town hospital being treated for gastroenteritis and not Ebola after concerns that she may have been infected with the deadly virus. The woman had not travelled to Africa and had arrived in Cayman nine days ago directly from New York. The first patient in New York suffering with the virus, a doctor who had been working with patients in West Arica, tested positive for Ebola last Thursday and is being treated at the Bellevue hospital, NY. On Monday US health officials also confirmed that a 5-year-old boy who had just returned from West Africa to New York is being tested for Ebola after he was rushed to the same hospital with symptoms consistent with the virus.
It is not clear why the woman was suspected of having the disease but CNS understands that the possibility that she had Ebola had been conveyed via a 911 call. Government officials said that Emergency Medical Services were called to a house in East End early Monday for a female patient experiencing symptoms of fever, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weakness and sweating. EMS responders complied with protocol to pick up the patient and protect themselves.
“The measures we took were precautionary,” saidHealth Minister Osbourne Bodden. “We took every precaution in our response to this report. The symptoms did not mean that this individual had the Ebola virus. Those are symptoms that can be related to a number of things. We enacted the precautionary measures the government and the Health Services Authority have in place. Public safety is and will continue to be our primary goal.”
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) said Monday morning that the patient’s travel history did not meet the criteria to be indicative of Ebola as she had not travelled outside of New York before her arrival in Cayman some nine days ago.
While Ebola concerns have become an international issues, the Cayman Islands Government has a history of not only overseeing local precautions but the Public Health Department, on behalf of government, routinely communicates with international agencies such the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Pan American Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Public Health England. Should the Ebola virus reach the Cayman Islands, these organisations have promised technical assistance with regards to the deployment of human resources and supplies.
The HSA also has two certified staff on board to deal with Ebola and is in the process of purchasing a field hospital and other necessary equipment as a precautionary measure should someone infected with the dangerous virus arrive in Cayman.