Topic: Northward
Cayman Islands Regiment to get new commander and headquarters
Cayman's soldiers are in line to get a purpose-built headquarters to be used as joint services training centre it was revealed as a change of command wa announced
Life after prison: Long road to freedom for released inmates
For many inmates, getting out of prison is far from the end of their sentence. One released prisoner explains the challenges.
Secret trial for exiled killers considered by Privy Council
The legality of secret trials covering issues that impact national security was at issue as a five-year human rights case involving two prisoners exiled from the Cayman Islands came before the highest court in the land.
Safety concerns for vulnerable prisoners
Prison watchdogs have highlighted ongoing concerns about the safety of vulnerable inmates and the state of the cells.
Prison Service moves to upgrade CCTV system
The Prison Service is seeking bidders to supply, install and maintain a digital CCTV system in Cayman’s prisons.
Prison inmates’ move to migrant center on hold
Although it was proposed as a way to relieve stress on Cayman’s overcrowded prisons system, it appears inmates at Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward will not be moving to new housing at the Immigration Detention Centre facility for at least a few months.
Authorities hold more than 250 prisoners in local jails
Both Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward and the police detention center in Fairbanks, George Town were overfilled as of Wednesday morning, with Cayman Islands authorities housing more than 250 adult prisoners or arrested suspects in local jails.
Prison seizes 120 lbs of ganja since 2016
Her Majesty’s Prisons Service has seized more than 120 pounds of ganja in and around Northward Prison within the past two and a half years, according to statistics released Thursday to the Cayman Compass.
Watson released from prison after 28 months
Cayman Islands businessman Canover Watson was arrested by Anti-Corruption Commission officers Monday immediately after his release on license from Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward.
Emergency support ship hits Cayman beach
Skip loaders and other heavy equipment rolled off a navy ship and onto the sand of Governors Beach Friday morning as part of an annual hurricane exercise conducted by the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Ouch
Today's editorial cartoon
Police: Five ‘drug canoe captains’ in custody
Five individuals known to pilot shipments of illegal drugs back-and-forth between the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean ports are now in Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service confirmed.
Prison inmates pack police jail
Prison overcrowding on Grand Cayman that was made public about two months ago has gotten worse since then, the Cayman Compass can reveal.
Public safety radio equipment on the way
The Cayman Islands is scheduled to take delivery this week of a new communication system for future disaster-related emergencies.
New prisons boss: ‘The hotel is full’
After 30 years in the Scottish prisons service and another two spent running the Turks and Caicos Islands prisons, interim Cayman Islands Prison Service Director Steven Barrett offered a direct assessment of the local jail Thursday.
Court case highlights prison phones problem
It is against Cayman Islands law to have a mobile phone inside the walls of Northward and Fairbanks prisons.
Lawmakers skeptical of CarePay ‘fixes’
Efforts to prevent a reoccurrence of bureaucratic bungles that led Cayman Islands taxpayers to spend US$1.8 million for nothing during the CarePay contract debacle drew skepticism from lawmakers who noted there had been little accountability in the wake of the disastrous deal’s end.
Northward prisoners turn their hands to leather working
Iguana wallets and handbags may soon be coming to a store near you, handmade by prisoners in Cayman. Northward prison has enlisted the talent of a craftsman from Guyana to teach inmates the finer points of tanning and leather working.
Hundreds of chickens killed, farmers narrowly escape fire
Three farm workers fled from a burning building in Northward, Bodden Town, last week in a blaze that killed more than 200 chickens in a coop next door. Cayman firefighters rushed to the scene after receiving an emergency call from 911 shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, May 12, according to Deputy Fire Chief Dwayne Ebanks.
Bush: Give principals control over schools
Principals should be given control over school budgets and the hiring and firing of teachers, Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush said Friday.
Ganja confiscated at prison
An officer at Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward caught a suspect throwing “a large quantity of drugs” over the prison fence last week, according to a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Northward camera scandal: Ex-prisons manager tells her side of the story
A former Cayman Islands prisons manager whose contract was not renewed last year in the wake of a “hidden camera” investigation at Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward, alleges that she was “victimized, bullied, spoken down to, ignored” and had her “opinions dismissed” during her period of employment.
Cayman’s cure for criminal recidivism
The Cayman Compass published a discussion between Premier Alden McLaughlin and George Town MLA Winston Connolly on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016, in which topics including the Cayman Islands Prison System, Work Placement Scheme, reoffending rate and Prison Service Vocational Training Program were covered. I feel my observations and experience on these topics may shed a unique light on the subjects, as I have been incarcerated at HMP Northward for the last 16 months.
Sex abuse suspect accused of spreading ‘infectious disease’
A prisoner being held on remand at Northward was charged this week with gross indecency with a minor and committing a “negligent act likely to spread an infectious disease.” The suspect, who police did not name, is a 56-year-old George Town man.
Ten inmates return to work in the community
Of the 20 Cayman Islands inmates who have completed the work placement scheme with the prisons service, 10 have gone on to work in the community. Premier Alden McLaughlin said 20 inmates began the program during their sentence at Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward. Seventeen completed the course; three did not finish it.
New bill would clear conviction records after ‘crime-free period’
Criminals who have served their time and spent a specific period following their release from prison crime-free will have previous convictions wiped from their permanent record, under legislation to be considered by lawmakers this month.
Government looks to outsource prisoner transport
New recommendations by prison officials, based on recommendations in the 2014 Project Future report, push the idea of outsourcing prisoner transport to a private security firm. The prisoner transport report was finalized in April and released to the public this week.
Ex-inmate inspires youth at football camp
To inspire Cayman’s youths to make better choices and take positive steps in the upcoming school term, former Northward prison inmate George Roper took the opportunity to address more than 50 youths at the FC International Football Camp last Wednesday at the George Town Annex Field.
Three arrested after prison drug-tossing
A man and two women were arrested overnight Tuesday after prison officers captured a suspect who they said was tossing packages of ganja over the wall at Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward.
Reinstated prisons manager suspended again
A senior Cayman Islands prisons official who was reinstated by a Grand Court order in June has been suspended from her job again pending another investigation by the prison service, the Cayman Compass has learned.
Lawyer: Northward prison conditions are ‘cage-like’
Speaking on behalf of his client on Friday, attorney James Austin-Smith said the conditions at Her Majesty’s Prison, Northward are “hardly fit for human habitation” and could make for a “very good case” if challenged under U.K. or European human rights laws.
‘Perennial fraudster’ Levitt sued by former employer
An accountant who was convicted of stealing from a Cayman Islands law firm in 2013 now faces a civil court lawsuit as the firm seeks to recover the remaining cash it says he stole.
Nearly 90 percent of prisoners are Caymanian
The Cayman Islands prisons system has processed more than 1,500 individuals in the past five years and about 88 percent of them are Caymanian, according to data obtained via a Freedom of Information request filed with the prisons service last month.
Prison seeks business partners for job training
The prison is looking to partner with private businesses to help put its under-resourced and under-used vocational training center to better use.
Inmates help the elderly
On the eve of Corrections Week, prisoners and staff of the Cayman Islands Prison Service provided assistance to the elderly in need.
Prison drone leads to ganja discovery
A surveillance drone at HMP Northward April 13 spotted two men leaving the area near the prison, where guards quickly found “a large quantity of ganja” that had been thrown over the fence, according to prison officials.
Cayman Islands Prison Service marks 35 years
Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service is marking its 35th anniversary this month with the first formal Cayman Islands Corrections Week, to be held April 24-30.
Prison visitors arrested for smuggling contraband
Two people visiting inmates at Northward prison over the weekend were arrested on suspicion of smuggling contraband.
Second senior prison official dismissed
A senior prison manager has become the second person to be dismissed in the fallout from an internal probe into the planting of a hidden camera in an office at Northward Prison.
