Three people have been injured this weekend, after several incidents involving machetes.
According to a police statement, RCIPS officers responded to several altercations during which “persons brandished machetes”.
In the first incident, which occurred shortly before 8:50pm on Friday, officers responded to a report on Shedden Road, George Town, just east of North Sound Road, where an intoxicated man had brandished a machete and was acting aggressively after having been denied entry to a bar at the location.
According to the police, officers attended the location and conducted a search of the man’s vehicle, during which a machete, along with a package containing suspected ganja, was recovered. Officers subsequently arrested the 31-year-old man, from Bodden Town. During the arrest, the man also made threats against the officers.
He has now been formally charged with threats to kill, carrying a restricted weapon, possession of ganja, consumption of ganja, and disorderly conduct.
Then, at 5:45pm on Saturday, officers responded to a report of an altercation between two men known to each other, involving a machete, at an address in Ella Ray Gardens, George Town.
According to police, when the officers arrived at the address, they found a man with a large laceration to the head. Emergency services transported the man to the Cayman Islands Hospital for treatment for what police said appears to be a serious but non-life-threatening injury.
Police conducted a search of the area and located a second man nearby, who was carrying a machete and a knife. Officers arrested the 37-year-old, from George Town, on suspicion of wounding. They searched the man and officers recovered another knife from his person.
He remains in custody as investigations continue.
In a third incident, shortly after midnight on Sunday morning, 27 March, officers responded to a report of an altercation involving weapons outside a bar on Shedden Road, George Town, just east of North Sound Road.
Police said that officers found two men at the scene, one of whom had sustained a head injury. It was reported that the men had been at the location when they were approached aggressively by two other men, one of whom subsequently brandished a machete. An altercation ensued and the man with the machete struck one of the first two men in the head, before leaving the location by vehicle. Emergency services transported the injured man to the Cayman Islands Hospital for treatment for a laceration to the head.
Finally, shortly after 3:45am on Sunday, officers responded to a report of an assault at an address on Shamrock Road. A group of people were gathered at the location, according to police, when one man approached another with a machete and struck at him causing a cut to his hand. The man with the machete then left the location. Officers later located the accused in the incident, who was warned for intended prosecution for assault ABH.
“Recently we have noted an increase in the level of aggression, and the use of weapons, by members of the public when dealing with disputes with other persons,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton said in the press release.
“More often than not, this means that these disputes escalate quickly and result in persons receiving serious, sometimes life-threatening, injuries. The penalty for wounding or causing grievous bodily harm to another person ranges from seven years imprisonment to life. So think twice before you ruin your life or someone else’s over a dispute that could be resolved without resorting to violence.”
In addition, in the release, the police reminded the public that section 81 of the Penal Code states that it is an offence to carry any weapon in public, particularly at night, “without any lawful excuse (the proof of which excuse shall be on such a person).” If found in contravention, a person is liable on conviction to a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for four years.
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