Search Results for 'jack tempura'
Baines gets top cop job
(CNS): In a decision likely to come as a surprise to the local community James Smith the Acting Police Commissioner has not been given Cayman’s top cop job. The post has gone to David Baines, who will commence his job as the new permanent Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) on the 1 June. A British national, Baines has had a 31-year career in the United Kingdom with additional cross-border experience in a number of European countries. Making the announcement today, Governor Stuart Jack said the selection process had been very thorough and had involveda great deal of background research and he was looking forward to working with Baines.
“I am confident that he has the skills and experience to see through the modernisation of the police service and meet the needs of this community,” he said. The governor also paid tribute to Acting Commissioner Jim Smith, who missed out on the post for the second time.
"Commissioner Smith has done an excellent job under very difficult circumstances,” Jack added. “His professionalism and dedication to the task set for him, particularly in relation to Operations Tempura and Cealt has been a tremendous benefit to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service and the community.”
Speaking about the selection process, the governor said the private and public sectors had been involved with some thirty community members from all walks of life participating in a series of focus groups, which provided input to the recruitment panel members on the current challenges facing the RCIPS and the selection criteria for recruitment. Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs Deputy Chief Secretary, Donovan Ebanks, who served as deputy chair of the selection panel, praised the new recruitment process: “The participation of private sector and community representatives worked extremely well and is a model for similar processes in the future.”
Baines, who is 49 years old, comes to Cayman from his most recent post as Assistant Chief Constable with the Cheshire Constabulary. In Cheshire he commanded 2,200 officers responsible for delivering the full range of policing services to the public in line with Cheshire’s annual and three-year policing plans. These services include major crime investigation, organized crime investigation, an economic crime unit, public order, and firearms/counter-terrorism capabilities. His work has involved close cooperation with criminal justice partners, in particular the Crown Prosecution Service, the Courts and Probation in order to deliver victim-focused services to the community.
Prior to his work with the Cheshire Constabulary, Baines was Chief Superintendent with the Greater Manchester Police. Here he was recognised for developing a new model of community-focused policing that re-established the trust and confidence of ethnic and inner city communities in the local police in challenging areas such as Oldham and Salford, following the worst race riots experienced in the United Kingdom.
As Superintendent in Greater Manchester, Baines was Head of Corporate Performance. He was responsible for setting annual performance targets for the force based on feedback from the public and local stakeholders. He has built on this experiencein recent years to develop, in partnership with KPMG, a special programme called “Quest”, which has successfully improved efficiencies in the Cheshire Police and has been recognized by the Home Office as a model of its kind in the UK.
Before that Baines spent three years in the National Crime Squad (the forerunner of the Serious Organised Crime Agency) as a Branch Commander responsible for three specialist teams of officers totalling 75 detectives. During this time he dealt with major investigations focusing on international fraud, money laundering and corruption within the UK and other European countries.
He began his career as a Police Cadet at the age of 16 and has taken numerous general and specialist training courses in aspects such as firearms, public order, and diversity. In 2005 he was one of the top graduates of the National Strategic Command Course – the leading course for senior police officers in the UK. He will shortly complete the Master of Studies course in International Relations at Wolfson College, Cambridge. He has said that he sees education and training as vital and has recently developed with Chester University a university level training programme that provides a foundation course for new police officers.
SPIT marks first anniversary
(CNS): Twelve months and over $6 million later, the people of the Cayman Islands are still no wiser when it comes to the actions and purpose of the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT) than they were one year ago. Although the exact arrival date of the team remains uncertain, their presence was officially revealed on 27 March 2008 – making today the team’s first official anniversary. On that day the governor called an emergency briefing to tell the Cayman people that an undercover police team from Scotland Yard was working here, that three senior police officers including the commissioner were suspended from duty and Lyndon Martin had been arrested.
Since that day the Cayman Islands coffers are now down around $6.5million, the RCIPS morale is at an all time low, the elected government is divided from the governor, and the country’s judiciary, once considered the best in the region, has been brought into question. However, despite this the Cayman people have been given little to no information regarding the so-called corruption investigation which has cost so much. The real target, purpose or intentions of SPIT and Operation Tempura, as the investigation was named, still remains something of a mystery.
To mark the year anniversary Cayman News Service submitted questions to Acting Commissioner James Smith, Governor Stuart jack and to SIO of SPIT, Martin Bridger, asking what the team considered to be the successes and failures of the investigation, what they would do differently if they had their time over, and for some explanation to be provided about what has happened over the last year and where the Cayman tax payers money has gone. Needless to say, we continue to wait for a response.
From the arrest and search of a Grand Court Judge for an unarrestable offence with a warrant signed by a Justice of the Peace which resulted in a damages payment of $1.3 million dollars to the twelve month suspension on full pay of two senior police officers, the investigation has been plagued with controversy and expense.
Despite the expenditure and the high profile arrests, the seemingly never-ending suspensions and the dismissal of the police commissioner, the only charges brought have been against Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon for unrelated offences and Lyndon Martin for making a false allegation against a police officer.
Following the recent announcement that the lead investigator Martin Bridger would be leaving the island (a condition that was elicited by the elected members of Cabinet before they would allow the most recent request for funding to go before the Finance Committee) the governor issued a short statement lauding the work of Bridger.
“Let us not forget that the original Tempura investigation has succeeded in clearing the names of people who were unjustly accused of wrongdoing. Many of us in the Cayman Islands – including myself – have acknowledged that some mistakes were made later on, as unfortunately sometimes happens with the best of intentions. But I feel sure that many of the people who came forward with information are glad that Martin Bridger came to the Cayman Islands,” the governor said on 11 March.
During Finance Committee on Friday, the Legislative Assembly voted on an appropriation for the investigation of over CI$4.4 million, which, added to money that was allocated in the last financial year of well over $1.6 million, takes the money spent from the public purse to well in excess of $6 million at a time when the islands’ operating budget is running at an expected deficit of almost $29 million.
With the recent postponement of Martin’s trial and no further news on the situation regarding Kernohan and Jones forthcoming, it is likely to remain a long time before the Cayman people are offered anything like an explanation. The next most likely development in this saga of intrigue and mystery will come from the Auditor General’s Office as Dan Duguay is close to finishing his first draft of a value for money study. And while this AG report is unlikely to offer any insight into the details or purpose of Operation Tempura, Duguay is trying to establish if the Cayman people have achieved value for money on their $6 million commitment.
Lyndon swaps dock for hustings
(CNS): Although Lyndon Martin was supposed to face court on Monday morning for making a false accusation against a police officer, CNS has learned that the case has been delayed until September. However, Martin will be declaring himself asa candidate on Nomination Day for the district of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The former United Democratic Party MLA, who served in the LA between 2000-2005 as the second elected member for the Sister Islands, will be taking his chances alone as an independent candidate this time around.
CNS understands the delay in Martin’s trial is down to the prosecution, which is reportedly still not ready. Martin was arrested 12 months ago on 27 March, 2008 while he was working at Cayman Net News, and charged with 17 counts ranging from burglary to false accusations. Since that time most of the charges have been dropped and Martin now faces only two counts which both relate to accusations he made against Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis surrounding possible leaks to the paper.
While the accusations against Ennis were, according to the Special Police Investigation Team, unfounded, the prosecution must now demonstrate that Martin made the accusations knowing they were false. However, it appears that the former MLA has considerable evidence to demonstrate that he had every reason to believe the accusations he reported to the police commissioner at that time, Stuart Kernohan, were true.
Following Martin’s report to Kernohan, who has since been dismissed from post, he reportedly told Governor Stuart Jack, UK security officer for OTs in the Caribbean Larry Covington and Chief Superintendent John Jones about the concerns Martin had regarding Ennis. At some point following the report Martin, along with his colleague John Evans, a reporter from the same paper who also believed the allegations, tried to find concrete evidence by searching the office of the Editor in Chief, Desmond Seales. Nothing was found, however, and at some point the governor, Kernohan and Covington made a decision to bring in the Metropolitan Police from Scotland Yard.
The Scotland Yard team reportedly arrived in Cayman in September 2007 and worked undercover until that was blown, allegedly as a result of a relationship one of the original officers had with a resident. At that point, Martin was arrested and the UK officers revealed themselves to the Cayman public and suspended Kernohan, Jones and Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon for unrelated offences. The officers also concluded that Ennis was not involved in a corrupt relationship with Seales.
During his suspension, Kernohan left the island because of the death of his father and has not returned since. With significant concerns about the way the investigation was being conducted, Kernohan did not respond to orders from the governor to return as in law he had no obligation to do so. He was dismissed, however, and although Kernohan’s legal team has remained in contact with the UK investigation team (SPIT) which is now employed by the Governor (in his role within the Cayman Government), he has not yet been interviewed regarding the case. Jones, who has remained on island suspended on full pay, has been interviewed but has not been dismissed or returned to post.
On Friday evening, James Smith told Finance Committee that issues regarding Operation Tempura were being wrapped up as soon as possible as SIO Martin Bridger was returning to the UK in April. Referring to the Rudolph Dixon case, which he said was the last trial, he said everything would therefore be completed by August. Consequently, either the prosecution intends to drop the case against Martin or no one told Smith about the delay.
$500,000 to fight Henderson
(CNS): According to documentation released to CNS under the Freedom of Information Law by the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs, Senior Investigating Officer of the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT) Martin Bridger chalked up CI$534,405.29 on lawyers and legal advisers fighting the Justice Alex Henderson Judicial Review, which found that the search of Henderson’s office and home was illegal and ultimately his arrest unlawful.
The more than half million dollars was spent on the five-day hearing, which saw the presiding judge refer to the whole matter as the “gravest abuse of process”, and included invoices from Amicus Legal Consultants, Martin Polaine’s firm, totalling some CI$23,000. Polaine reportedly assisted Bridger in other parts of Operation Tempura and therefore the invoice covered work outside of the Henderson hearing. Although one of the lowest invoices, Polaine has since been revealed to be the person who advised Bridger that the arrest was lawfully despite Cayman Islands law stating otherwise.
The rest of the $500,000 plus sum was spent specifically on lawyers and legal support that took part in the five-day review and worked purely defending Bridger and his team against the claims made by Henderson, which were ultimately upheld.
Bridger, a former Metropolitan police officer but now employed directly by Governor Stuart Jack, engaged the services of leading solicitors and counsel in London as well as here in the Cayman Islands, all of which were paid for from the public purse. The Judicial Review itself, which awarded Henderson his costs and damages totalling CI$1,275,000, actually cost the Cayman tax payer considerably more because of the money spent by Bridger on more than three different law firms.
Locally, Bridger engaged the services of Nelson & Co. Attorneys-at-Law, whose invoices totalled almost CI$132,000, but he also engaged leading London-based lawyers Peters and Peters, who instructed Nicholas Purnell QC and whose combined invoicing reached in excess of CI$291,000.
Local attorneys Ogeir were also paid over $87,000 to defend the interests of Carson Ebanks, the Justice of the Peace who signed the warrant for the unlawful searches.
The costs do not cover the time or other costs incurred by the Attorney General’s Office for its role in closing the case and negotiating the settlement with Henderson’s team, or funds paid to the presiding judge, Sir Peter Cresswell.
Although SIO Bridger is leaving the Cayman Islands at the end of April, Acting Police Commissioner James Smith recently requested a further CI$917,000 to continue with the Operation Tempura investigation and the cases relating to it that are before the courts, including the trial of Lyndon Martin and Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon, and for the new phase of the investigation – Operation Cealt. Cabinet agreed for that request to go before Finance Committee where Smith will have to justify further funding.
Meanwhile, the Auditor General’s Office is currently conducting a review of the entire SPIT spending and assessing if the public purse has received value for money since the team arrived in Cayman, reportedly in September 2007. Dan Duguay told CNS that he hopes to produce a first draft of the report before the end of this month. However, with the dissolution of parliament on 24 March he said the contents will not be made public until after the election and the swearing in of the new incumbents, when he will then be able to present his findings to the Legislative Assembly.
Bridger spent CI$500,000 on lawyers to fight Henderson
(CNS): According to documentation released to CNS under the Freedom of Information Law by the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs, the Senior Investigating Officer of the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT) Martin Bridger chalked up some CI$534,405.29 on lawyers and legal advisers fighting the Justice Alex Henderson Judicial Review which found that the search of Henderson’s office and home was illegal and ultimately his arrest unlawful.
The rest of the 500,000 plus sum was spent specifically on lawyers and legal support that took part in the five day review and undertook worked purely defending Bridger and his team against the claims made by
Bridger a former Metropolitan police officer but now employed directly by the Governor, Stuart Jack, engaged the services of leading solicitors and counsel in
Locally, Bridger engaged the servicesof Nelson & Co. Attorneys-at-Law whose invoices totalled almost CI$132,000, but he also engaged leading London based lawyers Peters and Peters who instructed Nicholas Purnell QC and whose combined invoicing reached in excess of CI$291,000.
Local attorneys Ogeir were also paid over $87,000 to defend the interests of Carson Ebanks the Justice of the Peace who signed the warrant for the unlawful searches.
The costs do not cover the time or other costs incurred by the Attorney General’s office for its role in closing the case and negotiating the settlement with
Although SIO Bridger is leaving the Cayman Islands at the end of April, Acting Police Commissioner, James Smith recently requested a further CI$917,000 to continue with the Operation Tempura investigation and the cases relating to it which are before the courts including the trial of Lyndon Martin and Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon, and for the new phase of the investigation – Operation Cealt. Cabinet agreed for that request to go before Finance Committee where Smith will have to justify further funding.
Meanwhile, The Auditor General’s office is currently conducting a review of the entire SPIT spending and assessing if the public purse has received value for money since the team arrived in Cayman, reportedly in September 2007. Dan Duguay told CNS that he hopes to produce a first draft of the report before the end of this month, however with the dissolution of parliament on 24 March he said the contents will not be made public until after the election and the swearing in of the new incumbents when he will then be able to present his findings to the Legislative Assembly.
Bridger set to depart Cayman
Smith said in his statement that he had met with Cabinet on Tuesday, 10 March, and updated them on the special police investigations, Operation Tempura and Operation Cealt. Despite the elected governments continued and persistent public concerns regarding how SPIT has conducted the investigations, Smith claimed they had been “very supportive of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) and will continue to fund the two investigations.”
Smith also said he had asked Cabinet for almost CI$ 915,810 to continue SPIT’s work and it was approved. CNS continues to try and reach members of Cabinet to confirm if indeed they have made a u-turn on their position regarding the financing of the investigations.
Meanwhile, Smith stated that Operation Tempura’s active investigations were now primarily focused on preparing for upcoming trials. He said Bridger would continue to work on it until the end of April to ensure continuity of the process and facilitate a handover.
He did not say if or when Stuart Kernohan would be interviewed or if Chief Superintendent John Jones, who has remained suspended from office on full pay for the last 12 months, would be returned to post or charged with any offence.
Smith said an initial report had been completed and passed to him by SIO Bridger, who he said would also hand over the preparatory work that he has done on these investigations to his deputy senior investigating officer, who will lead Operation Tempura to its conclusion, and to a new SIO who would oversee Operation Cealt. However, Smith did not state who would take over from Bridger.
“SIO Bridger’s departure does not mean that these investigations are over,” said Smith. “The investigations are not just about one person. This decision is the result of discussions with Mr Bridger over several weeks, and is supported by both HE the Governor, Mr Stuart Jack, CVO and Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates. I would like to publicly thank Mr Bridger for his professionalism and for the work that he has done on Operation Tempura and the work he started on Operation Cealt. After 35 years as a police officer, I know how difficult anti-corruption investigations can be.”
No mention was made of Bridger’s culpability in the recently concluded case regarding the unlawful arrest of Justice Alex Henderson or the latest legal action by Burman Scott, who was also allegedly unlawfully arrested by one of Bridger’s SPIT members.
Smith turned his attention to the second phase of the investigation, which is based on alleged reports from the community regarding potential corruption within the ranks of the RCIPS.
“Over the past few weeks, I have been reviewing each of the statements made by members of the community on alleged incidents of police corruption. Today, I advised Cabinet that I wished to investigate certain of these allegations as a priority,” Smith stated.
He said that he and the Special Investigation Advisory Group (SAIG), which includes Deputy Chief Secretary Donovan Ebanks, Strategic Advisor Peter Gough and Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson, have also advised Cabinet on the importance of creating an environment which makes it extremely difficult for corruption to occur in the first place.
“The initial report that I received in January identified a number of systems in need of improvement,” Smith said. “We need to look at our vetting procedure when we recruit police officers. We also need to look at the way we access information and intelligence because it is imperative that we be able to ensure the public confidentiality when they give us information essential for our work.”
He said this would cost money and he was aware that the economic situation means that Cabinet must look very carefully at any requests for funding. Cabinet, he said, had approved CI $915,810 to continue the work of Operation Tempura up to the end of the current fiscal year and to take forward priority actions on Operation Cealt.
“This is a considerable sum, but these investigations are an investment in the future of the RCIPS. I want to see a community with full confidence in its police service. Over the past few weeks, along with my colleagues in the Advisory Group, I have looked very carefully to see where we can make cuts in spending that reflect the current economic circumstances and have examined staffing matters very carefully,” Smith said.
“As head of the RCIPS, I can assure the public that I will consider all the allegations that have been made. Some are particularly serious, and must be investigated so that we can establish the truth – and either bring criminal charges in appropriate cases, or end the suspicions against the innocent.”
SPIT still working says APC
(CNS): Despite claims published in an editorial yesterday in one of Cayman’s local newspapers, Acting Police Commissioner James Smith has said that neither Operation Tempura nor the latest part of the Special Police Investigation Team’s work, Operation Cealt, have been or are about to be derailed by financial trouble. Nor, as also cited in the same comment piece, has the governor run out of reserve funds, not least because, as confirmed by his office, Governor Stuart Jack does not have a reserve fund in the first place.
An editorial in Cayman Net News, the publication owned by Desmond Seales,who has been at the centre of Operation Tempura since the SPIT arrived in Cayman, said that according to reliable sources, the Metropolitan Police investigations into alleged corruption within the RCIPS “may have to be shut down within the next two weeks because of financial constraints.” It also stated that "…the Governor has nothing left in his ‘reserve fund’ for this purpose.”
According to APC Smith, neither operation has been halted, although he did state that he is well aware of the fiscal challenges government is facing, and as such he will continue to work towards ensuring the best value for money in everything the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service does.
While it is common knowledge that the elected members of cabinet have refused to sanction funds for the investigation, the governor recently drew on his reserve powers to access the money from the Cayman purse to pay the damages to Justice Alex Henderson following his unlawful arrest by SPIT, and continue the investigation. However he did not draw on any reserve funds as they do not exist.
The Governor’s Office confirmed to CNS that he has no such funds but reserve powers, as set out Under Section 8 of the Constitution, whereby the governor is required by the Constitution to consult the Cabinet, but he may, with the approval of the British Secretary of State, act against its advice if he considers it "inexpedient in the interests of public order, public faith or good governance" to act in accordance with it.
The constitution also states that the governor may when necessary receive financial assistance from “Her Majesty’s Exchequer in the United Kingdom for the purpose of balancing the annual budget or otherwise…” However, the governor does not have any funds of his own to call on for any reason.
Haines aims for top cop job
(CNS): Former Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Haines is hoping to return to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) in the top job following the submission of his application for the post of Police Commissioner on Wednesday. Haines confirmed to CNS that he had applied for the senior position but declined to make any comment about his decision, saying he believed the selection process should take its course.
However, the former senior officer who was decorated with the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) in 2005 has considerable support in the local community. Former President of the Rotary Club and local lawyer Stuart Diamond told CNS that he and a more than twenty others had already written to Governor Stuart Jack in support of Haines’ application.
“I have signed a letter along with a group of other concerned citizens, which we have sent to the governor supporting Mr Haines,” he said. “We thoroughly endorse his candidacy as we believed he has demonstrated his ability and stepped up to the plate in the past when others were found wanting.” Diamond said that during the post Ivan period in particular Haines showed his talent for leadership and he was the perfect man for the job.
Since March 2008, the role of Police Commissioner has been filled by a succession of Acting Commissioners as a result of the Special Police Investigation Team, which saw Stuart Kernohan, the previous RCIPS Commissioner, suspended from duty and later sacked by the governor.
The current Acting Commissioner James Smith arrived on island following the departure of Acting Commissioner David George, who was placed in the job by the governor because of Operation Tempura, and then the departure of Cayman’s shortest ever serving Commissioner, Royce Hipgrave, who left the island some 48 hours after taking up the post.
Smith, who replaced Hipgrave, is a former colleague of Martin Bridger, the lead investigator of SPIT, and has been in office since early December. He has not yet formerly declared his application for the post but told a local meeting in West Bay on Tuesday evening that he had been working on an application. Smith did apply for the position in 2005 but was beaten out by Kernohan.
CNS has also learned that a number of other candidates have also applied from overseas, although we have been unable to confirm if any other local existing or former police officers besides Haines have yet made an application. With Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon facing misconduct charges, Chief Superintendent John Jones still suspended and Deputy Commissioner Ennis having declared that he had no intentions of seeking the position, this leaves the field wide open.
Haines, who has forty years of service as a police officer in UK Overseas Territories, served in the RCIPS for more than ten years. A prominent member of the community as president of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman and President of the Cayman Islands Rugby Club, Haines enjoys wide support and many say he was an exceptional officer. When he received his QPM award in November 2005, he was one of only three recipients from the field of the police service. Haines is currently Operations Manager at Dart Realty Camana Bay.
Legal expert calls for formal support from governor
(CNS): In the wake of the Governor Stuart Jack’s unannounced appearance on a local radio phone-in show last week, where he offered his support for the Cayman Islands judiciary, Charles Jennings, President of the Cayman Islands Law Society, has said that while the Governor’s comments are very welcome they would be even more effective if they were made in a formal context.
One of a number of leading members of the local legal profession that have voiced their concerns about the Operation Tempura investigation and specifically the unlawful arrest of Justice Alex Henderson, Jennings, the Senior Partner at Maples and Calder, was the first to publically call on the governor to formally reconfirm his confidence in the judges and the administration of justice in the Cayman Islands. He made his request during his presentation, given at the opening of the Grand Court on Wednesday, 7 January, when the issue of the investigation dominated the proceedings.
Jennings told CNS that he welcomed the governor’s remarks as a significant step in the right direction towards maintaining public and international confidence in the courts system here, but he added that those remarks might be even more effective if stressed again by the governor in a formal context.
"No doubt a radio phone-in show is an excellent medium to deliver a message to those who happen to be listening to it at the time," Jennings said, "But after all that has happened, a statement of confidence in a jurisdiction’s judiciary by its head of state, made informally on the radio, must be sufficiently important to merit being repeated by him publicly and formally as well."
Speaking on Rooster 101’s morning talk show, hosted by Austin Harris and Ellio Solomon, the governor told the listeners at the end of the one hour segment that they could have confidence in the local judiciary.
“The question has arisen at the opening of the Grand Court, how far does the governor support the judiciary and, of course, I absolutely support the judiciary. I am pleased and delighted that Justice Henderson is back on bench, as from what I here he is a very capable judge. We have a chiefjustice with an international reputation and we have appointed some really good judges. We have local and regional experience in our judiciary. I think the public and the business community can have every confidence in our judiciary,” he stated on air.
He went on to say that before all this (Operation Tempura ) happened he had advocated an independent well qualified judicial commission to appoint judges and issues a code of conduct for them, and he hoped it would be part of the new constitution. The governor said he thought Cayman has a good judiciar,y but with changes there would be even greater reassurance to the public that it’s good.
In his Grand Court Opening speech, Jennings had not only called on the governor to confirm his support for the legal profession, he had added his voice to that of Chief Justice Anthony Smellie and James Bergstrom, President of the Cayman Bar Association, criticisng Operation Tempura and the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT), led by SIO Martin Bridger.
“It is hard to know where to begin with this subject,” he said. “The first point is that it has become clear over the past few weeks that the arrest of Justice Henderson should never have occurred in the first place. The fact that it did shows that aspects of the investigation were ill-advised and fundamentally misconceived. The positive point, I suppose, is that the rule of law did at least prevail in time to save the jurisdiction and various individuals any further embarrassment, and I hope we can say, in light of the recent apologies of both the visiting senior investigating officer and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, that that particular aspect of the investigation is at a close.”
Jennings said he did not think the jurisdiction or the court had suffered lasting damage but it would be in the interests of all if the governor were to confirm publicly that he had no further issues outstanding with the judiciary and he announced unequivocally that he continues to have every confidence in the Bench and in the administration of justice in the Cayman Islands.
“We cannot let this matter fester forever. Let’s draw a line beneath it as soon as we can, hopefully reinforced by a statement of confidence in the judiciary by the governor, and move on. We are going to have enough challenges this year not to waste further time and money on distractions like this,” Jennings added.
Governor stands by Bridger
(CNS): Members of the local legal profession are still waiting for a formal public statement from the Governor, Stuart Jack, that he has confidence in the wider Cayman Islands Judiciary. However, Jack has attempted to defend his own actions on a local radio talk show in the wake of damning criticism from the judiciary over Operation Tempura and the actions of SIO Martin Bridger in the unlawful arrest of Justice Alex Henderson.
Despite questions to the governor’s office regarding the recent comments over the need for him to support the Cayman judiciary and calls for the removal of Bridger, CNS has still not received an answer. However, Stuart Jack did mention at the end of an unannounced and suprise appearance on Crosstalk, a public radio phone-in show on Rooster 101.9, that he felt the wider public and the business community could have confidence in the local judiciary and he was very pleased that Henderson was back on the bench.
In the face of Sir Peter Cresswell’s emphatic recent rulings on what were described as SIO Bridger’s very fundamental and serious errors in arresting Henderson for an offence that did not exist, the governor again commended Bridger whom he said was an excellent professional police officer.
Evading any direct answers about the entire affair surrounding Henderson and Bridger’s part in the judge’s unlawful arrest, the governor said that everyone makes mistakes and the community should be more forgiving, but he recognized that he had ultimate responsibility.
He said Operation Tempura was all about a police force that the country could trust, but he could not say more because the lawyers had advised him not to. He said that it was hard for him to keep the public informed even though he wanted to, and added that the same applied to the democratically elected members of Cabinet.
Addressing criticisms and complaints from them that he was not telling the elected officials fundamental things regarding the investigation, he said he did not want to take issue with his Cabinet colleagues given the constraints of what is under investigation and what is before the courts. But he did say that he thought it best that the democratically elected members were not directly involved in police matters, otherwise Cayman could become like the former Soviet Union where he served in the past.
“We have tried to keep them as well informed as we can,” he said. “We have a constitution at the moment that does not actually provide a lot of scope for involving the government in police matters and fundamentally my view is that is right,” Jack stated.
He did, however, note the sticky issue that Cabinet was fundamental in appropriating the funds he needed to continue the investigation.
However, CNS has learned that in recent cabinet meetings the elected officials have made it very clear they are not prepared to appropriate any more funds for Operation Tempura. At issue is the unknown sum for Henderson’s judicial review, which not only includes the justice’s claim for damages, which is said to be in the region of $2.5 million, but his costs as well as Bridger’s expenses for attempting to defend the judicial review. This included an incredible team of legal experts, barristers and QC’s from the UK.
The auditor general is now conducting an investigation into the expenditure of this whole 16 month investigation,which has yet to reveal any serious corruption or misconduct. It is estimated to have cost anything from CI$ 4-10 million, which will come out of the Caymanian people’s pocket. Even if the elected officials refuse to appropriate the neccessry funds, the governor will be able to use his reserve powers.