Missing man may still be tried

(CNS): The man who is accused of being the mastermind behind the bungled kidnapping for ransom, the first ever such crime in the Cayman Islands, may still be tried, despite not being here. The prosecution service has already been granted an order to try Richard Hurlstone in his absence. Hurlstone absconded from the jurisdiction while on bail during the trial preparation, which should have seen him in the dock alongside Allan Kelly and Charles Webster, who were found guilty of the crime on Wednesday. A Caymanian status holder, Hurlstone has reportedly fled to Honduras, his country of origin, but Cayman does not have an extradition treaty with that nation.

Although Hurlstone was not present during the actual kidnapping of Tyson Tatum, several witnesses testified during the recent trial that he was the ringleader. During the sentencing on Wednesday of Kelly, Webster and Wespie Mullins, who were all convicted of the crime, the trial judge noted that had Hurlstone been present at the trial and found guilty he would, as the ringleader, have been given a sentence of at least fifteen years. The judge said that with the order in place it was now up to local prosecutors to decide if he should be tried in his absence. “Hurlstone was indeed the mastermind behind the plot,” Justice Harrison said. “Unfortunately, Hurlstone is not here.”

Mullings, who pleaded guilty to the kidnapping prior to the trial of Kelly and Webster, was the first person to tell police that the entire abduction and blackmail plot was cooked up by Hurlstone, the victim’s brother-in-law, who before the ill-fated scheme had worked in the family business.

During the trial the court heard that Hurlstone had wanted to start "a new business of kidnapping for money” in the Cayman Islands and his first victim was going to be his wife’s brother. It also heard how it was Hurlstone who had given the phone to the victim’s mother, Angelique Tatum, which the kidnappers called her on when they had abducted Tyson Tatum to make their ransom demands.

Mullings, Kelly and Webster and other witnesses, including those who had been asked to join the scheme but were in the end to play no part, all spoke of attending meetings with Hurlstone, who they said had come up with the plan. The three men were supposedly offered $25,000 each to take part in the joint criminal conspiracy.

Tatum also said during his evidence at Kelly and Webster’s trial that his captors had revealed that he had been abducted in connection with a deal that had gone wrong between his father and Richard Hurlstone.

In the end, despite the threats, Angelique Tatum had contacted the police immediately after she realized that her son had indeed been kidnapped. Tyson, despite being bound and gagged and tied to a chair, made his escape when the kidnappers left him alone in the North Side house where he was held.

All of the kidnappers were rounded up soon after the foiled crime at Owen Roberts International airport. However, following a successful bail application, 32-year-old Hurlstone disappeared before the trial date. Although under curfew and made to surrender his passport, Hurlstone’s disappearance was discovered at the beginning of the new year when he failed to turn up for a court appearance.

It was discovered that he had not reported to police since the beginning of December and that his home had been locked up and his personal possessions sold on a local classified website.