Dispute ends in arrest

Cayman Compass

Appeals court orders retrial of couple’s gun possession case

The Court of Appeal has quashed a couple’s conviction of possessing an unlicensed gun, which was found hidden in an oven, and ordered a retrial be held.

Kevan Maxhoward Smith and Sharis Alexandra Ford were convicted on 8 Nov. 2022 of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, following a Grand Court jury trial before Acting Justice Frank Williams. Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The appeal hearing was heard 17 Sept. this year before three justices of the Court of Appeal, whose judgment was made publicly available on 8 Oct.

During the 2022 trial, the jury had heard that Smith and Ford were in a relationship, and living together in Ford’s apartment. On 5 Nov. 2021, the boyfriend of a friend of Ford’s went to the apartment, believing there had been an incident there involving his girlfriend. There, the court heard, he was threatened by a man with a gun, whom he did not identify as Smith, but whom he described as being Ford’s boyfriend. He reported the incident to police the next day.

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