MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Weekly Update

Headlines: Are you being served? Police court saga over at last; Titterington returns to AG's Chambers; Chevening scholars to visit; A serene start to the weekend.

'Are you being served?PICTURE: Visiting seafarers are served by Acting Governor, Harriet Hall, and Sylvia Allen, the Governor's PA, at the Lighthouse Seamen's Centre. Harriet and Sylvia are two of the volunteers who give their time to help keep the mission open to seamen in the evenings. More volunteers are needed; if you can help, please contact the mission managers, Betty and Howard Turner. Police court saga over at lastFIFTEEN months after being suspended from duty, former Chief Police Officer, David Morris, has at last been sentenced. In court on Monday, he received a six month suspended prison sentence, suspended for one year, having been found guilty on November 9, 2006 of perverting the course of justice. Mr Morris was found to have pressured Inspector Len McGill to terminate a police inquiry into an alleged assault by his son, Jason Morris. On the evening of the verdict, Mr Morris became ill and was admitted to hospital where he remained until his sentencing. Senior Magistrate Clare Faulds read the judgment from Acting Senior Magistrate Patrick Curran QC in open court on Monday. In passing sentence Mr Curran said that Mr Morris's time spent in hospital will be treated as time spent remanded in custody awaiting sentence. This would equate to a prison sentence of slightly more than three months. In mitigation Defence Lawyer Keith Watson described the case as "tragic." He said that two to five minutes of poor judgment had, in the short to medium term, "ruined a good man's life, not to mention the devastation suffered by his wife and very close family." In a written submission to Mr Curran, Mr Watson referred to Mr Morris's previous good character: he was discharged from the Royal Marines in 1983 with an exemplary record. "Mr Morris's conduct in the Royal Falkland Islands Police Force could be described, up to his conviction, with exactly the same word, exemplary," added Mr Watson. Mr Curran said he had been told Mr Morris now accepts that in acting as he did he made an error of judgment, but that he was unaware he was committing an offence. "On the evidence it was absolutely clear that you were deliberately interfering with your subordinates' attempts to carry out their duties. "I am told that you yourself now realise that your words and actions on that day, could have been and were interpreted by Inspector McGill as undue pressure in an attempt to persuade Inspector McGill to take a certain course of action, albeit, as the Court heard in evidence, Inspector McGill was not swayed from his desire and intention to pursue the case." Mr Curran said he accepted that Mr Morris's conduct was not motivated by malice, dishonesty, or for any financial gain, and was the action of a dedicated family man making a, "...woefully bad mistake in a misguided attempt to prevent facts of which he was well aware becoming the subject of official enquiries." He added, "But that same family man was the chief officer who was the lawful superior of those charged with making such enquiries..." Mr Curran referred to the Falkland Islands as home to a, "small but remarkable community," with a need for trust in other members of the community. "Trust in those charged with official business in the Islands is therefore all the more important. Prosecutions of police officers and others concerned with the administration of justice are fortunately rare both in the United Kingdom and in other British jurisdictions. "It is to be hoped that they will remain rare through the realisation that the slightest attempt at interference with the course of public justice, especially by one whose position is charged with an important part of its conduct, will have the direst consequences." The effects of conviction upon Mr Morris have already been "dire", and in many ways he has punished himself by his fall from grace far more severely than any court could punish him, Mr Curran said. "Your resignation from the Police Force recognised the inevitable consequence of conviction. With that disgrace and loss of status came also a considerable reduction in pension entitlement both by way of lump sum and annual income." The prosecution made no application for costs. Titterington returns to AG's ChambersA FAMILIAR face will return to the Attorney General's Chambers later this month. The Falkland Islands Government has announced that former Principal Crown Counsel Robert Titterington is to be appointed Acting Attorney General and will arrive in the Islands on February 23. He will be employed on a secondment basis from the States of Guernsey for a period of four and a half months whilst the recruiting process is carried out to appoint a successor to Melanie Chilton, who left the Islands last month. Mr Titterington is currently Crown Advocate in Guernsey, Channel Islands and is well known in the Falklands, having served as Crown Counsel and then Principal Crown Counsel for 12 years before leaving in June 2000. Chilton's resignationAn entry in the latest version of the government's Gazettehas caused confusion. In December, the resignation of former Attorney General, Melanie Chilton, was announced, "...for family health reasons." However, the Gazettelisted her departure under 'Determination of Appointment', not 'Resignations'. Penguin Newscontacted the Chief Executive to ascertain whether Mrs Chilton had resigned or been dismissed. Chris Simpkins responded, "She was most definitely not dismissed," and added that the listing under 'Determination' in the Gazetteis "a little ambiguous" as, "...it is also correct to describe Melanie as having determined her contract (by notice)." Chevening scholars to visitSIX Argentines with close links to the UK will be visiting the Islands next week to learn about life here. The six have all studied in the UK as part of the UK Government's 'Chevening' programme which enables promising foreign graduates to attend British universities for a year. Acting Governor, Harriet Hall, reported, "The idea for the visit came from the Argentine Association of Chevening Alumni (AChA), and is being facilitated by the British Embassy in Buenos Aires. It was discussed with councillors by Howard Pearce during his time as Governor." The six will be spending time in Stanley and Camp and meeting a range of people to learn about life on the Falkland Islands and to deepen their understanding of Falkland Islanders' views. Also visiting next week, although with a separate programme, will be Lynda St Cooke from the Embassy in Buenos Aires and Simon Rawson, from the FCO in London. A serene start to the weekend CRYSTAL SERENITY is due to visit Stanley today, with approximately 1,000 passengers on board, along with Prinsendamand her 840 passengers. Hanseatic (with around 194 passengers) will visit New Island and Carcass Island before heading to Stanley tomorrow, where she will be joined by Blue Dream(436). On Monday Grigoriy Mikheev(44) will visit New Island and Carcass Island. Minerva II (838) will visit Stanley on Tuesday, along with Grigoriy Mikheev and Marco Polo(500). Minerva IIwill head to West Point Island on Wednesday.