(CMR) Rupert Spence, who was convicted by a jury for torching a derelict car and setting fire to the RCIPS Business Center located at Windjammer Plaza on Walkers Road in 2020, was denied an application to appeal his conviction.
He was convicted by a jury in Grand Court on 23 March 2021 and was sentenced to concurrent terms of one month and 6.5 years imprisonment.
Spence, who was charged for the fire at the police offices after his DNA was found on a bottle that had the accelerant used in the fire, filed the appeal on the grounds that there was contamination concerning the DNA evidence.
His legal team argued that two swabs taken from the jug were placed in the same container, which resulted in one contaminating the other. However, the Court of Appeal judges said both swabs were from the same source, and that was the reason they were kept in one container.
As a result, the judges ruled that there is no basis upon which to grant leave to appeal. The judgment was made in December 2022 but was published on Thursday, 11 May 2023.
According to court documents, On the night of the 13th of August 2020, a motorcar belonging to someone called Mr. Chambers was parked in front of the Rubis Gas Station on Walkers Road in Grand Cayman. It was damaged by a fire which was reportedly deliberately set by someone. Spence was charged in relation to that fire after CCTV footage showed him purchasing gas from the service station before driving across to a poorly lit parking lot where the car was parked. Moments later, the vehicle was seen engulfed in flames.
On the night of the 26th of August 2020, the police offices in Windjammer Plaza were damaged by fire. Accelerant had been introduced into the building. When a fire officer arrived, there was the smell of petrol. There were at least four origins of the fire.
Spence was linked to that fire after his DNA was obtained from a container containing an accelerant used at the fire.
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