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Convicted child molester to appeal sentence next month

A man convicted of molesting a ten-year-old boy and attacking those attempting to stop him with a claw hammer will appeal against his sentence next month.

Jomar Caines was convicted in 2011 after admitting sexually exploiting a young person and kidnapping in a shocking attack in a restaurant men’s room.

The Supreme Court had heard Caines approached the victim, a ten-year-old boy, when he was sitting at a table holding his little brother, asking where the bathroom was.

He then pulled the victim into the bathroom and began to fondle the boy’s chest, causing him to shout out for help.

When other customers ran to assist, Caines lashed out with a claw hammer and began to punch others as he attempted to flee the scene.

Caines — who has a history of similar offences — reportedly told officers: “I am sick. It wasn’t sexual assault, it wasn’t sexual.”

Caines later appeared at court and admitted a string of charges including sexual exploitation, depriving a child of his liberty, serious assault and common assault.

He was jailed for a total of 12 years for the offences, and it was ordered that he serve at least half of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

The matter is just one of several criminal matters set to be heard by the Court of Appeals during their three-week sitting in November.

Dameko Dublin is meanwhile appealing his conviction and sentence for handling a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver, discovered by police near the former Clay House Inn.

The gun, which was wrapped in a sock, had been placed on top of a rear wheel of a car parked a few yards from the abandoned building near the Gravity nightclub.

During his trial, prosecutors alleged the weapon had been stashed there in the early hours of November 5, 2011 by Dublin and others in his “crew” before they entered the club.

When police units responding to an unrelated disturbance at the club arrived on the scene, they spotted two of Dublin’s friends near the parked car acting suspiciously and both men were arrested.

The gun was found shortly after, although Dublin was not linked to the weapon until DNA test results were obtained weeks later.

Following a Supreme Court Trial, Dublin was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Craig Damien Hatherley and Lorenzo Lottimore are appealing their conviction and sentencing for conspiracy to import almost 400g of heroin to Bermuda between an unknown date and June 2, 2011.

During their trial, the court heard that Lorenzo — a former employee at the LF Wade International Airport — had masterminded the plot while Hatherley was tasked with purchasing the drugs in the US and delivering them to a contact, who would in turn place the drugs on a Bermuda-bound flight.

Instead, he unknowingly delivered the package of heroin to an undercover officer in a meeting recorded by hidden cameras.

A dummy package was later placed on a Bermuda-bound flight by US Homeland Security.

That package was collected in Bermuda by a third man and delivered to Lottimore, who was subsequently arrested.

Lottimore was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for his involvement, while Hatherly received a 12 year sentence.

Meanwhile Winston Burgess is appealing his four-and-a-half year sentence for conspiring to supply 154.18g of 77 per cent pure heroin, discovered inside a CD and Cassette player.

He was arrested after attempting to collect the package from the FedEx offices on April 24, 2012, and subsequently pleaded guilty.

Jamar Dill will be appealing his conviction and sentence for robbery in connection to an incident in the early hours of May 21, 2011.

The court had heard that Dill accosted Cleta Burgess, 63, as she waited for a taxi to take her home from a friend’s house on Berkeley Hill, Pembroke.

He then launched an unprovoked attack in order to steal $100 from her, stabbing her with a knife and hitting her in the head with a crash helmet.

He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to eight years in jail.

The Court of Appeal is also set to hear the appeal of John Wardman, who is appealing his conviction for causing grievous bodily harm to lifelong friend Alex Doyle by impaired driving.

Prosecutors told the court that Wardman was behind the wheel of a car which struck two walls in the early hours of December 27, 2010. Mr Doyle, who was in the back seat of the vehicle, suffered serious head injuries as a result.

He was found guilty by a jury following a trial and sentenced to six months in prison, but prosecutors are appealing that sentence on the grounds that it is “manifestly inadequate”.

And Natalie Simpson is appealing her two-year sentence for unlawfully wounding Alexandra Wheatley with a champagne glass during a New Year’s party.

Prosecutors argued that the beauty therapist had carried out a “vicious, unprovoked attack”, while defence lawyer Marc Daniels said she was a genuinely good person who made a serious error of judgment due to emotion and alcohol.