Letters clear way for lawsuits
Mr. Kernohan |
Both Royal Cayman Islands Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan and Chief Superintendent John Jones have demanded reinstatement to their positions and have asked for an apology from Governor Stuart Jack following their removal from office earlier this year.
A letter sent to Governor Jack on behalf of Mr. Kernohan on 9 October was released to the press Monday afternoon by a spokesman. That release came more than five weeks after it was sent.
Attorneys from the Campbell’s law firm, which is representing Mr. Kernohan, said they had received no response from Governor Jack.
‘We…require you, within seven days, to confirm in writing that any investigation against Mr. Kernohan is at an end, to reinstate him to his position within the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, with a full public apology, a full indemnity against his legal costs and payment to him of a sum (to be agreed) in relation to the damage that you have caused to his reputation by way of damages for breach of contract, malicious prosecution and/or slander and/or libel, failing which Mr. Kernohan’s rights are fully reserved,’ the 9 October letter stated.
Requests made on behalf of Mr. Jones could not be obtained by press time, but it was understood that he had also sought reinstatement.
Governor Stuart Jack’s office declined to comment to the Caymanian Compass on the requests made by Messrs. Kernohan and Jones.
The two commanders, along with Deputy Police Commissioner Rudolph Dixon, were removed from office in March to facilitate an investigation into alleged misconduct at the RCIPS. The three men have not been arrested or charged in connection with that probe.
The allegations against the three police commanders relate to their roles in events that led up to an unauthorised search of newspaper publisher Desmond Seales’ office on 3 September, 2007.
That search, performed by one of Mr. Seales’ employees, was requested by Mr. Kernohan and Mr. Jones in attempts to prove or disprove claims that Mr. Seales had received confidential information from Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis.
Governor Jack said those claims against Mr. Ennis and Mr. Seales were later proved false.
Mr. Dixon has been charged with misconduct and actions tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, but those allegations relate to an entirely separate investigation.
The letter sent to Governor Jack on behalf of Mr. Kernohan accuses the Governor of both violating the police commissioner’s terms of employment and possibly ‘an unlawful and irrational exercise of [his] executive power as Governor of these islands.’
‘We can perceive no possible benign motive for his (Mr. Kernohan’s) continued absence from duty, not least because you (referring to the Governor) cannot be unaware of the damage which has been caused to his (Mr. Kernohan’s) reputation by your actions and your statements, and those of (Senior Investigating Officer Martin) Bridger to the news media of these islands,’ the 9 October letter read.
‘We are therefore drawn irresistibly to the conclusion that you (referring to the Governor) have acted in bad faith and maliciously, and have prolonged unnecessarily a wholly pointless and expensive police operation to the disrepute of Mr. Kernohan, this jurisdiction, and the people of these islands.’
Mr. Bridger, the former UK Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent leading the RCIPS probe, has also refused to comment about the on-going investigation in recent weeks.
Attempts to elicit comments from Mr. Jones about any issue related to the UK Met investigation have not been successful.
Mr. Kernohan’s attorneys argue in their submission to the Governor that investigators made misleading or contradictory statements regarding their probe, to the detriment of the police commissioner.
For instance, in a 27 March press conference announcing the temporary removal of Mr. Kernohan, Mr. Dixon and Mr. Jones from office, Governor Jack stated that the three commanders were not under investigation and were being removed simply to ‘facilitate’ matters.
However, as the Caymanian Compass first reported, Mr. Bridger and representatives of the Governor attended hearings in February and March in court chambers with Cayman Islands Chief Justice Anthony Smellie. The hearings were held to consider the application for search warrants against Mr. Kernohan, Mr. Jones and Mr. Dixon.
Court documents revealed that investigators sought those warrants well before the 27 March press conference when it was stated the men were not under formal investigation.
On 4 April, Chief Justice Smellie ruled that warrants should not be granted against Mr. Kernohan and Mr. Jones partly because there were insufficient legal grounds for such searches; in other words, no indication based on evidence presented that either man had committed any criminal offence. Search warrants were granted against Mr. Dixon.
It was generally unknown the Chief Justice had even made such a ruling until the Compass reported it six months later.
‘You (referring to the Governor) must have been aware of the Chief Justice’s decision when you wrote us on 11, 18, and 23 April,’ the letter sent to the Governor by Mr. Kernohan’s attorneys stated. ‘You indicated that you were seeking the Attorney General’s advice, which we assume you have never received…’
‘On 23 April 2008, you refused Mr. Kernohan’s request for assistance with his legal fees,’ the letter continued. ‘On 15 May, 2008 you sent us a copy of a notice of investigation, based on the same allegations, which were the subject of the Chief Justice’s decision (on 4 April), but since that date no effort has been made to put these matters to Mr. Kernohan. We can only conclude that no progress has been made in the investigation…indeed since 4 April, 2008.’
The letter strongly alludes to the possibility that, if no efforts are made to resolve the commissioner’s claims, legal action could be taken against the Cayman Islands government and the RCIPS by Mr. Kernohan.
Grand Court Justice Alexander Henderson, who was arrested and later cleared in the UK Met investigation, has previously indicated he will be seeking to recover millions of dollars in damages in relation to his arrest.
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