Judge in Bermuda stays deportation order against Jamaican man - Jamaica Gleaner

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – A Supreme Court judge has given a convicted Jamaican sex offender fresh hope of remaining in Bermuda after staying a deportation order against him.

Brittonie Taylor, who served eight years for a serious sexual assault, was due to be sent back to his homeland but his attorney Victoria Greening argued that he was not given a fair hearing.

Puisne judge Larry Mussenden said that he would not quash the deportation order, but he would stay it so Taylor could make written submissions to the Minister of National Security about why he should not be deported.

“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the process was unfair because of the failure to make full disclosure of the information to be provided to the minister in the circumstances of the draconian nature of deportation.

“However, I find that the lack of full disclosure can be remedied in this case by further disclosure and the opportunity for the applicant to make further submissions, as desired, which in effect answers the main thrust of his case,” Mussenden said.

He said the duty for full disclosure was even more evident in light of the applicant's ties to Bermuda, noting that he is married to a Bermudian, albeit the marriage was estranged, and he had Bermudian children.

Taylor was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2012 after he pleaded guilty to a sex attack on a woman at a bus stop a year earlier.

He admitted that he carried his victim to an isolated area and forced her to perform a sex act on him.

Taylor also attempted to rape the woman, but she was able to alert a passer-by to the attack.

The sentence was later reduced to 14 years by the Court of Appeal.

Taylor also admitted to twice accosting a female jogger 35 minutes before the bus stop attack and was sentenced to another year in prison for intruding on her privacy.

He was released from prison last October and was due to be flown back to Jamaica on March 29.

But, earlier this year, the Magistrates' Court was told he was arrested the day before for an alleged failure to attend a pre-flight COVID-19 test and breach of an order to quarantine.

The court was told he made threatening comments while he was being taken to Westgate prison after his arrest and that said he would “take the whole plane down” if he was deported.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.

Adblock test (Why?)