At last. Lightning struck twice and this time its victim did not escape. Devon Anglin was found guilty by Chief Justice Anthony Smellie on Friday (20) for the murder of Carlo Webster. He was sentenced to life at the pleasure of the Northward ‘Hotel.’ Lightning missed him the first time around when he was found not guilty of murdering 4 year old Jeremiah Barnes to much horror and disbelief on 31st August last year.

Many of us will breathe a sigh of relief and I pray there will be no retaliation shootings. The mother of Anglin, Katina Anglin, said her son would definitely be seeking an appeal as the inconsistencies which the judge referred to in the evidence of the anonymous witnesses were, she believed, serious and material to the whole case.

This may not be the end of the matter, and I will not be surprised if there is an appeal by Anglin’s legal team, especially after hearing what Katina Anglin said after the verdict was announced. I must applaud the Chief Justice for his very careful and thorough ruling that took over two and a half hours to deliver. He took great pains to tackle the ‘inconsistencies’ in the witnesses’ testimonies to which Mrs. Anglin referred saying he did not think they undermined the key elements. It was the first time where the identity of the key prosecution witnesses was completely concealed in the Cayman Courts.

I am positive RCIPS Commissioner David Baines will be very pleased at the verdict. This success will hopefully dampen down some of his critics, although I doubt that will be for long.

It was a beautiful day last Monday (23) and Heroes Square in George Town was packed with spectators and participators alike. When I first came to this lovely country thirty years ago I commented on the lack of monuments to people. We had ‘historic’ buildings and it was only when the statue of Jim Bodden was erected that an interest in the country’s heroes commenced. It is people who make countries great not buildings. I must congratulate the people who came up with the idea of Heroes Day and it has developed into a lovely spectacle. My only complaint, and of course I have to have a complaint, is the length of time the ceremony took. Over four hours is much too long. There were too many intervals in the proceedings when nothing happened and many of the speeches were far too long. Better direction/producing and a strict time limit to what people have to say would really improve this otherwise superb event.