A West Bay man was sentenced to four years jail Thursday over a string of criminal offences, including being in unlawful possession of a turtle.
Tyrone Roswell Ebanks, 42, of Powell Smith Drive, was sentenced on one count each of possession of a turtle without a marine license, attempted theft, disorderly conduct and aggravated trespass; two counts of criminal trespass and burglary; and three counts of damage to property. He had pleaded guilty to all charges.
Most of the offences occurred between January and August 2007 and came after Ebanks had a drug relapse, Defence Attorney John Furniss said, however the final two charges of criminal trespass related to a break-in at an apartment on Northwest Point Rd in West Bay in February 2008.
Crown Counsel Elizabeth Lees said Ebanks was found with the turtle on 23 August – the same day he had stolen almost $900 worth of cigarettes, rum and alcohol from Kelly’s Bar in West Bay.
Marine officers found the turtle alive in a wheelbarrow at Ebank’s mother’s house. Its flippers were tied together; there was rope tied around the creature’s back and lying next to it were a machete and a kitchen knife.
Ebanks initially fled from the officers into a nearby bush but later emerged, telling the officers he wasn’t going to kill the turtle but instead planned to release it.
The officers asked why, if that was the case, there was a machete and kitchen knife next to the turtle, to which Ebanks replied, ‘Oh, you found that.’
In an interview, Ebanks said he paid $80 for the turtle and later pleaded guilty to the charge.
Officers later managed to successfully release the turtle back into the wild.
The court also heard details of the break-in at Kelly’s Bar. Ebanks was arrested over that incident after the owner of the bar identified Ebanks on CCTV video showing him taking the alcohol and cigarettes. Ebanks told officers he had broken in because the bar’s owner owed him money for Ackee he had provided to the premises.
Another charge Ebanks was sentenced over related to a break in at an apartment on Town Hall Rd, West Bay, as Hurricane Dean approached the Cayman Islands on 30 August, 2007.
The apartment’s owner had returned after the storm to find the place ransacked – there were personal items all over the place and a number of things missing, including foreign cash; a cell phone and alcohol. Ebanks was identified after an analysis was done on a blood mark found at the apartment.
The aggravated trespass charge related to an incident with three men in West Bay in March 2007, when Ebanks had approached the men and grabbed a chain from one, saying ‘I’m taking this fu**ing chain today’. One of the men had returned with a machete and then Ebanks went and fetched a golf club. In a police interview he said he had approached the men because one of them owed him money.
There was also an incident at a concert at the Royal Watler Terminal in George Town that landed Ebanks in trouble. When the main band had not showed up, many in the crowd, including Ebanks, became agitated. Ebanks had gone to the ticket counter, sat on it and reached into the money jar, shouting, cursing and demanding his money back. A charge of threatening violence over that incident was left to lay on file by Magistrate Nova Hall.
The two criminal trespass charges against Ebanks came after police had gone to an apartment on Northwest Point Rd to investigate a fire. DNA analysis of some of the items taken from the apartment had matched with Ebanks’ DNA profile, leading to his February 2008 arrest.
Mr. Furniss explained that Ebanks had undergone treatment at Caribbean Haven treatment centre for drug problems and had done well for a period of months after leaving the facility, before his relapse, which had precipitated the criminal offences.
He noted that Ebanks had entered pleas of guilty at an early stage at had cooperated with police.
The Magistrate imposed a total of eight years and nine months worth of prison time against Ebanks, but ordered that many of the sentences be served concurrently, meaning Ebanks ended up with four years prison, minus the seven months he has served in custody since April 2008.
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