A judge will on Friday end an eight-year court saga linked to a half-million-dollar raid on a George Town bank.
Justice Roger Chapple will pass sentence on four people found guilty of involvement in the 2016 raid on ATM machines at the Royal Bank of Canada.
He told the Grand Court that he was aware the case had dragged on for years and that “eight years is far too long, to put it mildly”.
He was speaking after lawyers for David Bodden Jr., Statan Clarke, and husband-and-wife Elton and Eliza Webster made their pleas in mitigation.
Nicole Petit, for the Crown, told the court that the four – the men convicted in May of burglary and the woman of possession of criminal property – were at the higher levels for harm caused and culpability.
She said that Bodden, who had been a bank employee and who deactivated the George Town bank’s security system and left a door open for Elton Webster to get in and loot several ATMs, was particularly blameworthy.
Petit added, “The abuse of a position of trust stands out very squarely.”
She added Clarke worked for a company that counted the bank among its customers at the time and that there had been “an element of breach of trust” by him as well.
Petit admitted the length of time the case had taken was “regrettable” and should be reflected in the sentences handed down.
But she said, “However, whatever discount is given, it cannot overshadow the gravity of these offences.”
She highlighted that the crime affected the bank’s reputation and also the image of Cayman as a solid and safe jurisdiction for financial services.
Petit added the prosecution was prepared to accept “a modest reduction” in the sentences because of the length of the proceedings, but the idea of suspended sentences was “a bridge too far”.
The four were convicted on circumstantial evidence amassed over eight years.
No video evidence of the burglary was found, but the jury heard Bodden’s electronic key was detected on the floor where the ATMs were before the security system was breached.
Elton Webster was able to get into the building undetected and, using the code to the machines, empty them of cash before escaping in a getaway car driven by Clarke.
Eliza Webster, who was not involved in the heist, was charged after she was stopped by Customs officials at the Owen Roberts International Airport and found to have about US$4,000 in unused bills, with several of them in sequential order.
Lawyer Prathna Bodden, who appeared for defendant Bodden, told Chapple that the delays were not caused by the defendants, and that her client’s marriage had broken down and he had lost his house and job. She said he was of good character before the offences and had not committed other crimes since the burglary.
She added he was a good candidate for a suspended sentence and that there was sufficient support for him.
Lee Halliday-Davis, who appeared for Clarke, said the offence showed “a degree of planning”, but questioned whether it reached the level of sophistication needed to put it in the most serious category.
She insisted there was “no abuse of position” and that, although he had been at the bank earlier on the day of the robbery, it was because he had been on call that day.
Amelia Fosuhene, who appeared for Elton Webster, said the “build-up of anxiety” caused by long delays “would have been significant”.
She added that the Websters, who had four children, faced the prospect of both being behind bars at the same time.
Fosuhene said, “Of course, I am going to ask that the court makes allowances and reduces any sentence the court may have in mind for when considering Mr. and indeed Mrs. Webster.”
Chapple told Crister Brady, who appeared for Eliza Webster, that, although he had not decided on her sentence, it would be a suspended one.
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