Several weeks ago Cayman Marl Road posted a story that a new prison officer was due to start training as a new hire but apparently had been caught on video stealing. We were quickly contacted by Grant and others who claimed mistaken identity and that the story had no factual merit.
We can now confirm that Carl Grant, 27 who began his training on October 19, 2017 has now been terminated for alleged theft of a cell phone from a gas station..
Our sources had part of the information accurate including his name and the theft of a cellular phone. However, they had him linked to an incorrect theft caught on video. There was another gentlemen who stole a cellular phone from an electronics store and those details were swapped.
He contacted us via social media as well as some of his friends and out of an abundance of caution we took the story down. As the saying goes on the marl road … “if it na go so it close to so”. As it turns out we had the name correct, the allegation of theft of a mobile phone and the fact that the prison HR manager had just hired him and he was due to start training on Monday October 16th.
However, we are now able to confirm that some two weeks later he has now been terminated from the Her Majesty's Prison Service. Whilst it took a while to flush out the truth it appears now that he had stolen a phone from a gas station and the criminal case is pending. However, the offense was caught on video and became a point of discussion on a local talk show earlier this week by West Bay politician, Bernie Bush.
As we indicated in our first story, this would not be the first time the prison human resources department has allowed a person to be hired with a questionable past. In December 2014 Ricardo Fisher resigned after it was discovered that he was a registered sex offender in the United States. Fisher, also a Jamaican national, had been recruited into the prison service despite being listed by American authorities as a threat to public safety. He had worked at for the prison service for several years and it was not clear if background checks had ever been conducted. He was deported from New York where he was living at the time in 2009.
We contacted the prison for comment last month and received the following statement from Home Affairs:
In regards to your question about hiring procedures, please find below a response on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs:
“As per established best practice within the CIG, the Prison Service performs background checks on recruits who have successfully competed for a place on the Merit List and who are being considered for Prison Officer training. In addition to the usual checks with previous employers and criminal record checks, additional checks are conducted by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s Joint Intelligence Unit (JIU). If there has been a delay in moving to the training phase for whatever reason, a second round of checks is requested prior to commencement of training.
Previously, any issues flagged by the JIU would disqualify a candidate. However, following a round of checks late last year, a candidate with a history of conviction successfully challenged the disqualification through legal channels and was subsequently hired, as it was established that under the Law that the conviction was spent. Subsequent changes to the relevant legislation have addressed this issue. Four other persons who were flagged by the RCIPS and initially disqualified from being placed on the Merit List were reinstated, as upon further inquiry, it was established that questioning by the RCIPS was relative to civil matters and did not lead to any charges or convictions.
In September 2017 an opportunity arose to hold a small recruit class due to natural attrition and two of those who were reinstated to the Merit List were included. As the most recent background check was done in December 2016 the Prison Director requested further checks by the RCIPS, which were clear for both persons, who have since been hired as Officer Support Grades (Trainees).
Due to the nature of their role, HR personnel become familiar with applicants, particularly those who apply in consecutive recruitment exercises in the hope of being hired. One such applicant who has since joined the Prison team worked at the same local business as the HR Manager some years ago when he was a minor and the Prison can confirm that the relationship did not extend beyond professional boundaries.”
We have also reached out to Grant but he only wanted to know where we had gotten our information regarding his termination. CMR has a strict policy of never divulging our sources.
However, Grant made a statement on social media tagging the Deputy Governor, Mr. Franz Manderson and stated:
This incident occurred in 2009 which was a misunderstanding. I found a phone at the gas station and went to return it but the police officer started reading my rights. I told the police officer, I’d like to go home and she stated if I plead guilty, I could go home. So that’s what I did. I repeat, I did not steal the phone but was simply manipulated into saying yes. I was young and didn’t know any better. The situation was taken to court and was squashed. I WAS NOT convicted and my name was CLEARED. I also have a clean police record.
I’ve applied to the prison since November 2016 but was prevented from getting the job because of the 09 situation …even though my name was cleared. However, they contacted me around April 2017 stating the decision was revisited because of other “similar” situations, and a decision was made to reinstate me. Fast forward to October 2017, I finally signed my contract but after three weeks of training, my contract was terminated because of the same situation. So, I lost the job I worked so hard for.
Not only that, but I’ve been publicly defamed by Cayman Marl Road previously and now they’ve decided to air this out proclaiming me to be a thief, yet again, defaming my character. I am NOT this person. If you know me, I am hard working individual who is just trying to make it in life.
I usually don’t address rumors on social media but my character is so important to me and I won’t allow ignorant people to defame it.. Things are hard enough as it is. I just lost the job I’ve been trying to get over the years after three weeks of training now this … I just want back the job I’ve been trying So Hard to get over 6 years now.
I hope you all can understand.
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