It was both a good day and a bad day last Tuesday (29) when the Court of Appeal quashed the murder convictions of Patrick McField, Osbourne Douglas and Brandon Leslie.

It was a good day because justice can be seen to have been done even if some members of the public do not agree with the verdict.

If one looks at the evidence on which the defendants were found guilty there would seem to be reasonable doubt. There were discrepancies between the eye witness account of where the shooting allegedly happened and where the forensic evidence would suggest the place 28 year old Samuels was shot. This was revealed by the shell cases fired from the weapon that killed the victim, and there was a trail of blood from where Samuels was shot in the leg to where he eventually collapsed. The blood came from his severed femoral artery.

It was a bad day because it was another of the rare convictions the RCIPS had achieved now overturned because of conflicting evidence. There is obviously something wrong with Cayman’s Legal Department because this is not the first time this has happened.

I can sympathise with Police Commissioner Baines as he is being blamed for another acquittal for a case he was not involved in. He wasn’t even here!

Another sad event, again involving the RCIPS, was the announcement that Misty, one of their specialist K9 Unit’s Belgian Malinois was killed last Sunday (27) morning around 3am. Misty had strayed on to the main East/West arterial route in the Newlands area. We have yet to learn (and one wonders if we will ever learn) how the dog got away from his handler when he should have been secured.

To finish on a happier note involving the RCIPS, two surfers who got into trouble in the rough sea by the South Sound cemetery were rescued after they made it to the Cay. The RCIPS helicopter team managed to land there and bring them to safety landing them at the South Sound Rugby ground pitch.

It constantly amazes me the number of people who think they can better the elements. They ignore warnings and their own common sense (possibly they don’t have any), not unsurprisingly get into grave difficulties, and other people have to risk their own lives to rescue them. What are these stupid people trying to prove? If they want a cheap thrill, please do something that will not involve anyone else if the thrill gets out of hand. Congratulations to the RCIPS and their crew. They not only had to deal with a poor landing area to make the rescue, but rough weather and deteriorating light. The rescued couple, a man and a woman, were both very lucky. Neither received any injury.