A total of nine police officers from the United Kingdom are now in Cayman conducting an enquiry into what is generally acknowledged to be a wide-ranging probe involving the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis |
Senior Investigating Officer and veteran UK lawman Martin Bridger, who’s been on island since 4 September, said Wednesday that he began his investigation looking solely into claims that a top-ranking police official had provided confidential records and other information to the publisher of Cayman Net News.
However, those allegations have since been proved false and the man accused of making them, former Sister Islands MLA and ex-Net News journalist Lyndon Martin, has been arrested and faces numerous charges.
Precisely why Mr. Martin is alleged to have committed those acts is unknown. Mr. Bridger refused to speculate about motive.
He said one of the things to be considered is whether other people were involved in or behind a break-in which occurred in the personal office of Net News publisher Desmond Seales in August 2007.
The probe sparked by Mr. Martin’s initial allegations is believed to have started before Mr. Bridger arrived on island. The Caymanian Compass has learned witnesses were interviewed by local police in connection with the case as early as August.
Mr. Bridger said, as far as he knew when he first came to Cayman, he was only investigating the initial claims made by Mr. Martin at the request of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He said the accusations were serious and could have placed officer’s lives in danger had they been true.
However, he said it was recognised quite early on that they were not.
‘Some of the allegations we established, certainly within the first month (of the investigation)…they just didn’t add up,’ Mr. Bridger said.
Over the course of the next few months, while questioning witnesses in connection with the initial case, Mr. Bridger said information that ‘can be separated from the main investigation’ had come to light. He declined to specify what that information concerned.
‘That matter hasn’t become a formal investigation,’ Mr. Bridger said.
It is believed that the revelation of the other information is what led Governor Stuart Jack to order the temporary removal of three top RCIPS commanders last week in order to ‘facilitate’ on-going enquiries. Commissioner Stuart Kernohan, Deputy Commissioner Rudi Dixon, and Chief Superintendent John Jones are on paid, required leave. An acting commissioner from the UK Metropolitan police has been brought in to lead the RCIPS.
Police officials said the three men have not been placed under investigation. Generally, officers who are suspended pending an investigation receive half salary until an outcome is determined and that pay cut has not happened in this case. Those three men would also have to be informed about such a probe.
Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis, who was the top officer originally accused of supplying confidential information to Cayman Net News, has been exonerated by the on-going probe. However, he has not returned to work since taking a voluntary leave about two weeks ago.
Mr. Ennis declined requests for comment.
Mr. Bridger said he could understand some of what the deputy commissioner was going through after having been falsely accused of acts which might have put other officers in danger.
‘In my dealing with Mr. Ennis, I’ve found he is a decent man who is totally committed to the police service,’ Mr. Bridger said. ‘Has he found some of this difficult to deal with? Yeah, he has.’
It is presumed Mr. Ennis will return to work at some point, but RCIPS officials could not say when.
Surprise enquiry
Mr. Bridger said when he first arrived on island his investigative team was made up of himself and one other officer.
Three to four weeks later two other UK officers arrived, they were followed by two more officers later on. He said the final three officers making up the team’s full complement of nine didn’t arrive until last month.
Mr. Bridger said members were added to the investigative team as information was gathered and as the need arose.
He said a number of people have been interviewed in the investigation, among them; Mr. Seales, Mr. Martin, Mr. Ennis and staffers at the police service and Cayman Net News. The number of people investigators had talked to was believed to be less than two dozen, but Mr. Bridger said it was a ‘significant number.’
Cayman Islands residents generally expressed surprise that such a covert operation here could remain a secret for more than six months. Mr. Bridger said it was a credit to the hard work of his investigators.
He denied that the Thursday, 27 March press conference was held because the covert investigation was about to be made public in the press. Instead, he said it was simply time to bring certain details to light.
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