Young yacht burglars found guilty of chopping tourists

by Katherine Renton

A nine-member jury has delivered a guilty veridct for the two men accused of breaking into the yacht ‘Rainbow’ in 2013 and severly chopping a foreign couple.

The verdict was delievered on yesterday at the High Court, and it was decided that Enard Douglas and Jerome “JJ” Jordan were guilty of the offences of aggravated burglary, grievous bodily harm and wounding.

Towards the end of the trial there was some tension between the two accused men who were 15 and 16 years old respectively when they broke on to the yacht on October 3, 2013, and chopped US Virgin Island-born Christina Curtin on her face and shoulder, and wounding US born Mark Beiser, Curtin’s boyfriend.

Couple testifies
by Skype
Curtin lives in Arizona and Beiser on his boat, both gave their evidence of what they endured through the assistance of Skype.

Curtin explained that on October 3, 2013, she and Beiser were having dinner when she heard a noise on board. She walked outside to investigate and “that’s when the first cutlass hit my face,” she said. After being chopped on her face, she turned around to run back down, and this was when she received another chop on her left shoulder.

At this time, Beiser had grabbed a fillet knife from the galley, Curtin recalled, and “just started stabbing in the air” to protect her.

They made their way to Carriacou, where the ambulance and the police were waiting for them.

US Virgin Island-born Christina Curtin suffered chop wounds to her face and shoulder

When asked how she had been affected, Curtin told the court “It took me a couple of months after before I could completely move my jaw.”

Besides the numbness and the scarring, she also said that she had post traumatic stress disorder. “I have tears in my eyes right now,” she said, before she began crying, and had to take a minute, along with a tissue, to compose herself.

Neither she nor Beiser saw any faces, or heard any voices.

The couple found a cutlass in the cockpit of their boat.

When asked how he felt about the incident, Beiser said simply that he felt “Violated.”

Defendants blame each other for
attack

The source of the problems between the defendants may have started after the court heard from accomplice, Joul Mills, who calmly explained that he rowed the two out to that yacht on the date.

Mills said that he was going about his business, when he ended up meeting with Jordan and Douglas. He said that Douglas told Jordan to show him the scene, so Jordan told him that they were going out to the yacht to collect some money from some “white people.” Later in cross examination, he would explain that he thought that Douglas meant he had some business with the persons on the yacht because he did some fishing.

Mills accepted, and the three left. Mills’ job was rowing the boat out to the yacht until they reached alongside ‘Rainbow’. Jordan and Douglas then climbed up on the yacht and then Mills apparently heard a lady’s voice say something like “Honey somebody is on the boat.” Mills said Jordan and Douglas pulled out cutlasses from their waist before they went on to the yacht. Mills said he heard a scream, and saw Jordan jump off the boat. He kept hearing screaming, and so he jumped out of the row boat that he was in, and started to swim to the shore. He said that it was a while after Jordan jumped off the boat that Douglas followed.

When they reached the shore Mills said he realized that Douglas had a stab on his arm, and Jordan asked what happened. Douglas told them that the “white man stab him.” Jordan is said to have asked Douglas what he did, and the then 15-year-old apparently answered that the woman “tek some serious chop.”

After this, Douglas gave his evidence. However, he claimed that “JJ” came to him and told him how he(Douglas) has a case coming up, so he needs to make some money. “JJ” then apparently said that he is “accustomed doing little tief ting” and that Douglas should go with him.

He claimed that since he was the youngest, he ended up being led by Mills and Douglas to go there. Then he switched to saying that Jordan had told them that he “geh ah work” and he was going to collect money that night. He first implicated Jordan, and said that Jordan was the one who did the chopping. He claimed when he ran to see what was going on and he pushed in his head, he got chopped.

Jordan in cross examination accused Douglas of lying multiple times. He said that the he knows the people didn’t deserve it and that they help out the environment. Douglas responded that he knows this because he is a diver.

Jordan also attempted to remind Douglas that it was he who said that they should say they all had cutlasses and when they get to court the case will get mixed up because the court wouldn’t know which one did the chopping.

Douglas also said that because his co-accused went “South” “all kinda tricks you have in your head.”

Jordan also said that he went to the yacht to collect some money, that he didn’t carry a cutlass, and that when he heard the woman “bawling” he got frightened and jumped off.

Crown counsel Karim Nelson, who was appearing with crown counsel Rose-Ann Richardson, said that he accepted some of what Jordan testified about, but not his reasons for going to the boat, and stated that he had gone there to steal from the persons.

When it came time for the accused persons to speak to the jury, Douglas began by admitting “I guilty” but then said that he didn’t chop anyone. “You know how life does go with friends,” he said, and also that he was trying to change his life.

“Inside ah my belly I can’t go down for something somebody else do,” he stated.

Jordan stood up and said “I just want the court to know that Enard Douglas is a criminal” and that he didn’t do anyone anything.

However, the jury found both guilty for the offences on the principle of joint enterprise, and the sentencing was adjourned to November 22 to facilitate a social inquiry.