JAIL TIME ON APPEAL FOR QUARANTINE BREAKERS

JAIL TIME ON APPEAL FOR QUARANTINE BREAKERS

They might have still escaped the full brunt of the law, but Skylar Mack and Vanjae Ramjeet will still be spending jail time for breaching Cayman’s Covid-19 quarantine regulations.

The two were ordered on Tuesday by Judge Roger Chapple to immediately start custodial terms of four months in jail after he heard the appeal against their previous sentence on Monday filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Magistrate Angelyn Hernandez had previously ordered Mack and Ramjeet to complete 40 hours of community service sentence plus a fine of CI$2,600 each for the offence.

There was an outcry in the community over that penalty as it was felt it was too lenient given the egregious nature of the offence in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The law stipulates a maximum fine of CI$10,000 plus a two-year prison sentence.

Both offenders had been observed mingling in the community when they should have instead been in quarantine.

It was found that they had tampered with their quarantine monitoring bracelets.

The government has pledged to take a hard line against anyone found breaching Cayman’s COVID-19 quarantine protocols.

On Monday Skylar Mack published an apology to the Caymanian community which appeared in Caymanian Times.

“It was not our intention to harm or hurt anyone but I realize now that we have caused a lot of anxiety and frustration for many persons, for this, we are truly sorry," she wrote.

“I am aware that the Cayman Islands Government has done nothing but dedicate extreme caution to combat the spread of Covid-19, for this the country and its citizens can be extremely proud; I made a mistake, and words cannot express how sorry I am for this,” the letter said in part.