Offender spent seven days in hospital for smoke inhalation
Details of a fire at Central Police Station in May 2012 were aired in Grand Court on Friday when a young man was sentenced on two counts of arson.
Justice Alexander Henderson noted that the defendant, 16 at the time of the offences, had already spent four months in custody. He thought that was sufficient punishment, but said the young man would benefit from supervision. He therefore imposed a sentence of nine months but suspended it, and ordered probation for two years with precise conditions.
The judge pointed out that the teen had pleaded guilty to two counts of arson on the basis that he was reckless as to whether any property would be destroyed or damaged.
He had originally been charged with two counts setting a mattress on fire with the intention of damaging or destroying property.
Sentencing remarks included a summary based on submissions from Crown Counsel Jenesha Simpson and defence attorney John Furniss.
The first incident occurred on 4 May, 2012, at the West Bay Police Station, where the teen was in the holding cells after being arrested for burglary. While there, he set fire to his mattress and said he did so because he was being ignored and needed to attract the attention of officers. At the time, he was the only person in the holding cells, which were separated from the rest of the station by a door.
He was transferred to Central Police Station in George Town and remanded in custody by court order. On 9 May, he again set fire to his mattress and again said he did so because he needed to attract attention to himself, the custodians having chosen to ignore him, Justice Henderson recounted.
There seemed to be some corroboration for this, the judge continued, because as a juvenile the teen had to be held away from adult prisoners. Mr. Furniss said that his client was kept in an “inside cell”, where officers were not on duty 24 hours.
After the fire was set, officers tried to open the cell door without immediate success. Mr. Furniss said the officers unlocked the cell door to get the teen out, but they forgot about a bolt at the top of the door.
By the time they got the door open, there were problems from smoke inhalation. The defendant had to spend seven days in the hospital.
Justice Henderson said this suggested there was some veracity to the teen’s claim of being ignored.
After release from the hospital, the teen was moved to a place of remand for young males.
Mr. Furniss said since his client had been bailed, he had applied for several jobs and his mother had applied to a training programme for him. He emphasised that it was never the boy’s intention to cause harm to anyone. He was willing to cooperate with a probation order.
Ms Simpson asked about compensation. She said repairs and cleaning the police station had cost $2,640.
Justice Henderson said compensation had been the subject of debate recently. He concluded it was wrong in principle for a court to order compensation unless there is an immediate prospect of the defendant paying it. He pointed out that the court does not have power to impose an order payable in instalments over time.
As reported in the Caymanian Compass, 10 officers were taken to the hospital for treatment after the fire, with one hospitalised for smoke inhalation.
The incident at the George Town Police Station necessitated its closure at the time and the public counter area was not re-opened until two days later. Meanwhile, officers established a temporary police station in the former vehicle licensing office on Elgin Avenue.
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