St Lucia murder

[Timd_chapman]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The ARC should consider st Martin because there a huge marine facility here, the biggest chandleries in the world, cheaper to fly into and out of, and a perfect place to start a Caribbean adventure, especially at Christmas time.

Not that this couple were in the ARC.

You wouldn't say that if you had beat eastbound into the Christmas winds from St Martin!

As a white person you are more likely to be a victim of crime in the Caribbean than you are in USA or Europe. That said the risk is still not so great that you have to avoid it, (I exclude Venezuela from this which is high risk).

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Timd_chapman

You wouldn't say that if you had beat eastbound into the Christmas winds from St Martin!

Where eastbound? Back to the Canaries?
Or do you mean SE at 121 deg to St barts, a whole 20 nms... Or antigua at SE 131 deg for a whole 100 nms? When the wind was NE and E?

Anyway, one could go downwind in the Christmas winds and do the windwards when they knock off.

Beats 300 miles from St lucia to civilisation!

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by Timd_chapman

You wouldn't say that if you had beat eastbound into the Christmas winds from St Martin!

From this point of view Grenada should be most suitable

[Timd_chapman]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Where eastbound? Back to the Canaries?

Or do you mean SE at 121 deg to St barts, a whole 20 nms... Or antigua at SE 131 deg for a whole 100 nms? When the wind was NE and E?



Anyway, one could go downwind in the Christmas winds and do the windwards when they knock off.



Beats 300 miles from St lucia to civilisation!

Your bearings are correct but not your message. I sail east from SXM regularly and it can be brutal, most who have done it would say the same. Guadeloupe is a close fetch which regularly knocks the stuffing out of crew and boat in December, always exceptions of course.
Agreed that SXM has the facilities for the ARC and was actually quite quiet this December. Don't be lulled into false security though, St Martin has plenty of violent crime.

[boatman61]

Damn sight easier than BVI's to SMX..
MAAN to quote Shakespeare...

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Beats 300 miles from St lucia to civilisation!

So You think there is no civilisation on Martinique?

Oh, yes, it is not Aussies civilisation for sure

[Capt'n Ricko]

Seems to me... the best thing would be for all cruisers to send a message to St Lucia & other Carib islands (especially St Lucia Right Now!) where police/Gov't cannot control - or won't control violent crime on cruisers...

STAY AWAY!

(Follow the Money)

[pablothesailor]

I have seen NOTHINg from the authorities in ST Lucia that fills me with any confidence re the way they have handled this whole situation, its been a huge eye opener for me & I dont think I would even consider sleeping without being ¨locked in¨ at nite! I will also be looking at some sort of alarm over these next months!

[Jimmy Jazz]

Originally Posted by pablothesailor

I have seen NOTHINg from the authorities in ST Lucia that fills me with any confidence re the way they have handled this whole situation, its been a huge eye opener for me & I dont think I would even consider sleeping without being ¨locked in¨ at nite! I will also be looking at some sort of alarm over these next months!

Why do you say this ^ . The police have 5 suspects, all are stated to be co operating with the police. They have the boat in for forensic work. Prosecutors and police say they are confident they have enough evidence to proceed with murder charges. What are you expecting to happen at this point. I'm all for eye for an eye but lets get them convicted first. If its the PR crap that you dont like, again give it some time. at least let them announce that charges have been laid

[pablothesailor]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Jazz

Why do you say this ^ . The police have 5 suspects, all are stated to be co operating with the police. They have the boat in for forensic work. Prosecutors and police say they are confident they have enough evidence to proceed with murder charges. What are you expecting to happen at this point. I'm all for eye for an eye but lets get them convicted first. If its the PR crap that you dont like, again give it some time. at least let them announce that charges have been laid

A previous poster described it well when pointing out how the Police had said they did not think the thieves meant to kill Mr Pratt and even tried to make little of damaged ribs etc by suggesting he may have SLIPPED and got these injuries himself?? Make no mistake about it, if these scumbags had not been anywhere near that boat NONE of this would have happened! They ALL deserve life in prison in my book! Its time to show anyone else considering robbing and killing inocent people where it will take them! There are NO EXCUSES!

[Jimmy Jazz]

Originally Posted by pablothesailor

A previous poster described it well when pointing out how the Police had said they did not think the thieves meant to kill Mr Pratt and even tried to make little of damaged ribs etc by suggesting he may have SLIPPED and got these injuries himself?? Make no mistake about it, if these scumbags had not been anywhere near that boat NONE of this would have happened! They ALL deserve life in prison in my book! Its time to show anyone else considering robbing and killing inocent people where it will take them! There are NO EXCUSES!

I read that report/statement and thats not what i got out of it. I read it as "from the investigation these so far are the fact we know" If it was USA or Canada these guys would be charged with Man 2 im sure but they have stated that in St. Lucia there is no "manslaughter" charge, its murder for all that were involved. Plus there will be other charges. I did not feel anyone was making excuses, just explaining the facts leading to the death of Mr. Pratt.

[CarinaPDX]

The police comments were in line with what we would expect here - they are required to be circumspect about releasing information. It gives me a lot more confidence in their professional skills than if they were baying for blood. Which is not something we should be doing. In some cases deaths that occur during the course of a crime are considered de facto murder, not manslaughter, so depending on St. Lucia's laws the perpetrators could be in for very harsh punishment. I doubt there will be any difficulty in putting them in jail for a long time, and until we see otherwise I suggest holding off on the accusations.

The other article is best understood as an admittedly tasteless effort to communicate a political position to the local folks. It was published locally and not intended for us. There are still a lot of people who don't get that the internet has changed everything, and there is nothing private anymore.

Greg

[Hud3]

An unfortunate aspect of this case is that in order to properly prosecute the perps in a court of law, the wife will need to return to St Lucia and provide testimony at the trial(s). It can take months or years for trial dates in cases like this to be set. Not a pleasant prospect for her, and if she's back in England, travel expenses will be on her account.

[mottseng]

Originally Posted by Hud3

An unfortunate aspect of this case is that in order to properly prosecute the perps in a court of law, the wife will need to return to St Lucia and provide testimony at the trial(s). It can take months or years for trial dates in cases like this to be set. Not a pleasant prospect for her, and if she's back in England, travel expenses will be on her account.

Who said travel expenses will be on her account? Where did you get that information. She is not only one of the victims but a critical witness for the Crown.

[Hud3]

I'll put that back at you. Who said "the Crown" will pay?