Governor sacks Commissioner Kernohan

Stuart Kernohan Police Commissioner

H.E. the Governor Stuart Jack, in an uncompromising 18 November statement, has sacked Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan -- accusing him of an “unauthorised absence” and “inappropriate action” -- and announced an immediate search for a replacement.

The statement came just 24 hours after a spokesman for Mr Kernohan released a 9 October letter from the commissioner to the governor, recalling the 14-month anti-corruption probe by Mr Jack’s Special Police Investigation Team, including his own 15 May suspension, and demanding within seven days an apology, an end to the investigation of his own conduct and unspecified damages.

The letter sent on behalf of Mr. Kernohan on 9 October was released to the press Monday afternoon by a spokesman. That release came more than five weeks after it was sent. Attorneys from the Campbell’s law firm, which is representing Mr. Kernohan, said they had received no response from Governor Jack.

“We…require you, within seven days, to confirm in writing that any investigation against Mr. Kernohan is at an end, to reinstate him to his position within the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, with a full public apology, a full indemnity against his legal costs and payment to him of a sum (to be agreed) in relation to the damage that you have caused to his reputation by way of damages for breach of contract, malicious prosecution and/or slander and/or libel, failing which Mr. Kernohan’s rights are fully reserved,” the 9 October letter stated.

Said Governor Jack, “I can now advise that after reviewing all the circumstances of Mr Kernohan’s conduct as it relates to the terms and conditions of his employment, including his continuous unauthorised absence from the Islands, I am left with no option but to accept that he has unilaterally severed his contract with the Cayman Islands Government, and I now therefore treat it as at an end,” the Governor said in a five-paragraph statement late on Tuesday, 18 November.

“I am advised that the termination of the contract [will] not in any way affect the ongoing Police investigation against Mr Kernohan, whom I understand the police intend to interview shortly,” the governor wrote, after calling on the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs “to immediately commence the recruitment process for a new full-time Commissioner”.

Until Tuesday’s statement, the Office of the Governor had neither acknowledged receipt of the letter nor offered a response.

Mr Kernohan, Chief Detective Superintendent John Jones and Deputy Police Commissioner Rudolph Dixon were all placed on “required leave” on 27 March by the Governor and Martin Bridger, Senior Investigating Officer of Mr Jack’s Special Police Investigation Team, as part of an anti-corruption probe of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.

On 15 May, Mr Jack and Mr Bridger placed both Mr Kernohan and Mr Jones under formal investigation, while arresting Mr Dixon on charges of obstructing justice and misconduct in public office.

Neither Mr Kernohan nor Mr Jones has been charged with any offence, nor have they been questioned by the investigation team.

Also on Tuesday afternoon, new Acting Police Commissioner Royce Hipgrave was scheduled to arrive, replacing outgoing Acting Commissioner David George, who is set to leave in late November after eight months in the position.

In his Tuesday statement, the Governor lamented Kernohan’s Monday release of the 9 October letter: ”I am personally disappointed that Mr Kernohan would publish private correspondence sent to me at a time when we consider potential disciplinary acts against him. Not only was this an inappropriate action, but the letter also contains groundless allegations which I categorically refute,” he wrote.

The reference to “potential disciplinary acts” refers to Mr Jack’s 10 September move to pursue sanctions against the commissioner after three fruitless orders in July and August that Mr Kernohan should return to George Town from the UK, where he had been since late April looking after his ailing father.

“Groundless accusations” are a reference to Kernohan’s 9 October charges of “an unlawful and irrational exercise” of executive power by Mr Jack, who deprived the commissioner of his job “for no good reason”, and acted “in bad faith and maliciously”, prolonging a “wholly pointless and expensive police operation to the disrepute” of Mr Kernohan and the people of the Cayman Islands.

Closing his 18 November “Update on Commissioner Stuart Kernohan”, Mr Jack said he would “continue to ensure that the public is kept up-to-date as developments take place”.

Mr Jack’s office did not respond to a list of questions by press time, leaving unanswered whether the move meant an end to all disciplinary sanctions against the commissioner and if Mr Jack anticipated legal recourse by Mr Kernohan.

Police corruption and cover-up against Cayman Net News

Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon and former Inspector Burmon Scott were arrested on Thursday as London’s Metropolitan Police widened their investigation into corruption in the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS). At a 15 May press conference, H.E. the Governor Stuart Jack, flanked by Acting Commissioner David George and Senior Investigating Officer Martin Bridger, announced that Commissioner Stuart Kernohan and Detective Chief Superintendent John Jones are being formally investigated for “misconduct in public office”.

Mr Bridger said that Mr Dixon had been arrested for “other criminal acts completely unrelated” to the current investigation involving Mr Kernohan, Mr Jones and Mr Dixon. On Thursday afternoon Mr Dixon was granted bail. "We have now reached a stage where, again supported by legal advice, we have reasonable grounds to suspect Mr Dixon of being involved in other criminal acts,” Mr Bridger said..

“In this regard he was arrested this morning. A former RCIPS officer has also been arrested this morning in connection with the matters connected to Mr Dixon. Mr Bridger declined to identify the former officer referred to at the press briefing on Thursday but Cayman Net News has since identified the unnamed officer as Mr Burmon Scott, a now retired 28-year veteran of the RCIPS.

For the first time since the suspension of the top cops, Mr Bridger said Mr Dixon was being investigated for his role in the events surrounding the 3 September 2007 break-in at the office of Net News Publisher Desmond Seales by former staffers Lyndon Martin and John Evans. Pressed by reporters for details on the nature of the alleged crimes under investigation, Mr Bridger said it was too early to go public. Mr Jack said the decision to widen the Kernohan-Jones-Dixon investigation followed fresh allegations of police corruption.

On Thursday, 27 March, Mr Jack had announced the suspension of the three commanders to facilitate a probe into alleged wrongdoing. The move came in the wake of an earlier Metropolitan Police investigation into an alleged “corrupt relationship” between Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis and Mr Seales. Both Mr Ennis and Mr Seales were exonerated of any wrongdoing by the officers, who subsequently charged Mr Martin for his role in the Ennis/Seales investigation, which lasted six months. “While conducting the investigation involving Mr Seales, Mr Ennis and Mr Martin, it became clear to my team that both Commissioner Stuart Kernohan and Detective Chief Inspector John Jones were involved in developing matters from the time Mr Martin made the original allegations about Mr Seales and Mr Ennis,” Mr Bridger said.

“Seeking corroboration of what Mr Martin was saying, Mr Kernohan, subsequently supported by Mr Jones, conducted certain enquiries, which led to a Cayman Net News employee entering the newspaper’s offices on the night of 3 September 2007.” Mr Jack said that the three officers would continue to receive full pay. He said he had given Mr Kernohan permission to visit the United Kingdom on “compassionate grounds”.

The Governor urged the public to have confidence in the RCIPS, saying the majority of officers were honest and hardworking. “The fact that we are taking the received information seriously is not an indication that we have a wholesale lack of integrity in our police service,” Mr Jack said. “Rather, it means that we in the Cayman Islands want a police service above reproach, and if this means further investigations, we are willing to commit to it. This entire process gives us all an unprecedented opportunity to review and adjust our police system to deter those who may be tempted to behave inappropriately. We are looking at both creating stronger internal processes within the RCIPS and considering an independent complaints mechanism.”

Acting Commissioner George said he would ensure that systems are in place to deliver a robust and transparent complaint and discipline policy, and customer-centred processes at the RCIPS.

Cayman Royal Cayman Islands Police Embroiled in Corruption

The officers above were not necessarily the ones put on suspension.

The Governor of the Cayman Islands, His Excellency Stuart Jack, CVO, today (Thursday, 27 March) announced that he has put three senior police officers on required leave to facilitate enquiries into allegations against officers of the Royal Cayman Islands Polput on ice Service (RCIPS). Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan, Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon and Detective Chief Superintendent John Jones were put on required leave with immediate effect to enable an investigating team from the Metropolitan Police Service led by DCS Martin Bridger to proceed with their enquiries. This action follows a separate investigation by Mr Bridger’s team into serious allegations made against the Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis and the editor in chief of Cayman Net News Desmond Seales. “The investigating team has shown that these allegations were false. However, in the course of their original investigation certain other matters have come to light which now, in the interest of protecting the high standards of the RCIPS, we must look into,” the Governor explained.

Although the Governor said that it could cause “some anxiety”, he urged the community to look at the positive outcomes of these matters: “It sends a clear signal that regardless of position, serious allegations will be investigated, and that we are committed to pursue the highest ethical standards in public office without fear or favour. It also serves as an assurance to our community that illegal or unethical actions that tarnish the reputation or interfere with the media will not be allowed.” Further in his statement to the media Governor Jack emphasised that the decision to take action against these top level officers was not taken lightly: “It was after very careful examination by me of the information that have been gathered to date. I am grateful for the valuable advice received from the Attorney General’s Office. And of course I was also mindful of the high public office that these individuals hold.” He added: “The enquiries are ongoing and I want to make it clear at this point that no judgment has been made as to the guilt, innocence or culpability of any person.

The decision to put these officers on required leave was made to protect the integrity of the enquiries to be made and it shows fairness to the officers involved.” The conditions of the required leave will be under constant review by HE the Governor as the investigation progresses. To lead the RCIPS in the interim the Governor has appointed David George, an UK police officer, as Acting Commissioner. While Mr Jack pledged to make every effort to keep the community informed, he did say that the sensitivity of the issues involved as well as the sub judice rule will restrict the amount of information the investigative team can provide. The Governor urged the community to steer clear of “sensationalism and divisive politics” and instead work together to combat rumour, innuendo and mischief making.