After-hours fight in parking lot involved knife
Jermaine Wellington, 25, was sentenced to four years imprisonment after a Grand Court jury found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The victim. Andrew Garth Thompson, received a serious stab wound to his neck just below the left ear.
Trial took place in July, but defence attorney John Furniss suggested a social inquiry report before sentencing. Justice Alexander Henderson adjourned the matter until the report was received.
The incident leading to the charge occurred on 17 May, 2010. In his sentencing remarks, the judge noted that Wellington had been out drinking with friends; after the night club they were at closed, they went to Al La Kebob (a restaurant off West Bay Road).
Mr. Thompson, now 22, had also been out drinking with friends that night and they too were in the area of Al La Kebob.
At some point, for a reason not explained, Mr. Thompson’s ex-girlfriend started kicking at the car Wellington was in. Mr. Thompson called for Wellington to ignore her.
One witness said someone insulted Wellington with a racial comment and other remarks were made. A fight ensued, a knife was produced and the injury inflicted.
[An article in the Caymanian Compass for 19 May, 2010 read, “The incident was reported around 4am after a fight broke out among a large group of people who were hanging around the Marquee and Al La Kebab restaurant.”]
Mr. Furniss said Wellington did not go to Al La Kebob with any bad intent. He admitted being in the fight, but always denied he was the person with the knife.
Justice Henderson said Wellington was happy to enter into a fight, but he also considered that the aggressive attitude of the victim and his friends did provoke Wellington. He said this was a mitigating factor.
Crown Counsel Elisabeth Lees shared a victim impact statement from Mr. Thompson’s mother, who said the incident had been traumatic and stressful. At one point she thought her son would die. It had also cost a lot of money: there was a deductible of $10,000 before an air ambulance would take him to Miami for treatment. He still requires further treatment, his mother reported. Ms Lees said the victim was keen to get on with his studies and put this incident behind him.
In mitigation, Mr. Furniss told the court that Wellington came to Cayman in 2008 and attended UCCI to do a two-year degree programme in social studies, but then had to leave school because of financial problems. He obtained casual and short-term work, generally as a labourer or help with deliveries.
Justice Henderson asked if Wellington would be deported after serving his sentence. Told yes, he observed that the defendant would not have any support system. Wellington’s mother has permanent residence here and his father was murdered when he was young.
“He seems to have grown up in the streets without strong ties to decent role models,” the judge said. The pre-sentence report had examined the circumstances of his upbringing. It indicated that Wellington had not had many advantages in life. This was his first term of imprisonment.
In the UK, the range would five to nine years, he said. The local cases cited involved sentences ranging from two to six years.
The judge recommended deportation after completion of sentence and gave Wellington credit for time in custody.
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