Human Smuggling Victim Recounts Ordeal Through St Maarten Caribbean as Court Reduces Smugglers’ Sentences
Victim Recounts Ordeal Through Caribbean as Court Reduces Smugglers’ Sentences
A victim of human smuggling gave harrowing testimony in court as a Grand Court judge reduced the sentences of a husband and wife convicted of trafficking two Ethiopian refugees into the Cayman Islands.
Justice Cheryll Richards upheld the couple’s convictions for human smuggling,
Human Smuggling Victim Recounts Ordeal Through St Maarten Caribbean as Court Reduces Smugglers’ Sentences
illegal entry, and failure to complete disembarkation forms upon arrival but acknowledged their original sentences were excessive.
She cut the 52-year-old English man’s sentence for smuggling from 48 to 33 months and reduced his wife’s sentence from 40 to 25 months.
Their names remain withheld due to legal restrictions.
During the appeal, Richards emphasized that the couple knowingly transported two Ethiopian nationals,
Kedir Osama Musa and Tilahum Assafa Bruke, into Cayman Brac in exchange for payments of approximately US$5,000 each.
Upon arrival on 14 May last year, the pair submitted immigration documents but intentionally omitted the presence of the two men.
Richards ruled the omission was deliberate and premeditated, stating,
“It was plain on the evidence it was failure to declare the two passengers,”
and further described the concealment as “a pre-arranged plan decided upon before arrival” for financial gain.
Victim Recounts Ordeal
Testimony revealed that Musa and Bruke had fled political persecution and violence in Ethiopia.
They were subjected to cruel treatment aboard the yacht, including being locked in the cabin, ordered to lie about their identities,
and denied adequate food and water—despite providing their own supplies.
Victim Recounts Ordeal
The court heard they were verbally abused, forced to sleep on deck, and called racist slurs such as “monkey.”
The vessel collected Musa in Cape Verde, stopped in Sint Maarten to pick up Bruke, and proceeded to the US Virgin Islands before arriving in Cayman Brac.
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Customs officers boarded the yacht and discovered the refugees hidden below deck.
Justice Richards also reduced the man’s sentence for illegal landing from 18 to 12 months and the woman’s from 12 to six months.
However, their six-month and four-month sentences, respectively, for failing to complete landing cards remained intact.
Victim Recounts Ordeal
All sentences are to run concurrently from 14 May, the date of their arrest.
Throughout the proceedings, the couple displayed disruptive behavior, refusing to acknowledge the court’s authority.
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They were eventually removed from the courtroom, appearing later by video link—often turning their backs to the camera. Only the man attended the appeal hearing.
Following their discovery, Musa and Bruke were left stranded in Cayman and later fled in an unauthorized escape alongside 10 Cuban nationals.