(CMR) A female Cayman Airways pilot walked away from court on June 19 with no several recorded convictions and now members of the local community as asking some serious questions.
Amber Pamela Eldemire Hydes, the 26-year-old pilot, was facing four charges including DUI, (2) assaulting police, damage to property and assault occasional actual bodily harm involving injuries to a police officer. Despite the multiple offenses she appears to have had a stroke of luck not afforded to many persons.
We understand that she crashed into a light pole on West Road close to Safe Haven; and proceeded to assault several police officers. Her behavior at lockup was also said to be very volatile with one officer “almost losing an eye”. Despite the severity of the allegations Hydes faced relative impunity.
Hydes appeared before Magistrate Donalds on June 19 where the outcomes was announced in open court. She would face no conviction for the assaulting police charge and the remaining three offenses were left on file.
Sources indicate she was convicted of DUI and lost her license for a year. As a result of FAA regulations she’s been suspended from flying. None of the three officers assaulted were in favor of dropping the charges.
The outcome raised a number of questions. Now, CMR has received allegations that members of the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions purposely interfered with the process to favor Hydes.
Scott Wainwright, Senior Crown Counsel, apparently contacted the officers involved in the matter via email and suggested that they reconsider the charges given that she could potentially lose her job. However, the officers, in turn, notified the Commissioner of Police, Derek Bryne.
Byrne in turn reached out to the acting DPP Director, Patrick Moran, about the context of the alleged email. CMR sources indicate that Moran issued a warning to Wainwright about his unacceptable behavior. There is no indication if this was a formal written or oral warning.
The entire scenario begs some serious questions to be answered shared one lawyer that CMR consulted. It appears that both the CoP and the DPP Director have ignored the anti-corruption laws and failed to report what is potentially a severe infraction of attempting to perverse the course of justice. Our legal expert claims:
“The correct procedure would have been for the Commissioner to report the matter to the ACC for them to fully investigate and make a ruling on. Not reporting such actions could be a very serious offense. In fact, we see right now an immigration officer in court facing the same charge – alleging that they knew or should have known that illegal activity was occurring in their department and did not take the necessary steps to report the matters.”
There is a legal reporting responsibility. It doesn't mean that an offense was committed but nonetheless it should be reported so that it can be properly investigated and a determination made by the responsible body. Imagine the less senior persons in this scenario were the ones who reported it – the police officers. They instinctively felt it was inappropriate at the very lest and potentially even illegal.
He went on to explain that in some jurisdictions such an infraction would mean the attorney would be disbarred and face criminals charges for abuse of power. He further highlighted that Byrne was already alleged to be involved in some impropriety at his last job and this certainly does not look professional or legal.
“I'm quite surprised he would not be minded to report this matter to the ACC. After all, his own officers could have potentially been compromised. What message is he now sending to those under his remit?” Given questions about his actions while at his last top position in Ireland I would have expected him to handle this by the book.
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