Man chops up wife, then asks court for share of matrimonial home | Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

A recent Cayman court judgment, delivered on June 29, 2022, noted that a man, who is Jamaican by birth and who is serving a 14-year sentence for attempted murder of his Caymanian wife, asked the court to consider how the single matrimonial asset should be dealt with as between the parties. Ultimately, the judge ruled in favour of the Caymanian wife, saying that she should have the matrimonial home in its entirety, for reasons outlined below.

Reasons for judgment

In order to reach his decision, the judgment outlined that the court had to consider the Matrimonial Causes Act, which says that the court has the powers to make orders for the disposition of matrimonial property, including the matrimonial home, varying any settlement of the property of the spouses made in consideration of the marriage and varying any other settlement of matrimonial property.

In this particular case, the court also considered English cases which discussed the conduct of married couples and how such conduct be analysed to determine the fair distribution of a matrimonial property.

The question is whether the conduct is “obvious and gross” and whether the effect of the conduct is sufficient to displace what might otherwise be the fair division of the matrimonial assets.

The judge said.

The gross conduct

The obvious and gross conduct referred to by the judge in the judgement was gruesome. It detailed the man chasing his wife and chopping her in the back of her neck, then chopping her leg, followed by a continued attack.

My legs were also chopped off by the Petitioner and even after reattachment and five surgeries, I will never be able to walk properly again. I have a permanent limp and one foot is noticeably shorter than the other. I will never be able to jog, swim, ride a bicycle, walk quickly, dance, or things I so love doing.

My doctors have advised me that the incompatibility in the coordination of my gait likely result in me having hip issues as I get older. The toes on my right leg have been adversely affected as they have now turned inwards.

I will wear an ankle foot orthotic (ATO) brace to help control the instabilities in my lower limbs for the rest of my natural life. I will never again wear high-heeled shoes. I no longer have sensation on the soles of my feet as my nerve endings there have been permanently destroyed.

In the attack I lost a piece of my ear and l am in constant pain from the scars which run from my ear across my neck down my back along my spine anal sleep in my shoulder muscle most of that shoulder muscle is now non-existent as a result of the attack.

The wife explained, according to court documents.

Judge’s decision

After looking at the relevant factors and the law, the judge said that there was no doubt in his mind that the man’s conduct was obvious and gross, with a stark and striking “gasp” factor. He said that the woman was “lucky to survive the attack.”

In the circumstances, in the exercise of his discretion, the judge said that he thought it was fair that the former matrimonial home is awarded to the Caymanian wife in its entirety.

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