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Kemar Narrice Thomas appeared in the Summary Court today, June 1, 2026, for overstaying 3.5 years in the Cayman Islands. He was sentenced to 4 months imprisonment, with credit to be given for time already served.
Thomas, a 43-year-old Jamaican national, lawfully entered the Cayman Islands in 2017. Magistrate McFarlane heard that his prolonged overstay was primarily motivated by a desperate desire to continue supporting his two young children in Jamaica.
Defence counsel highlighted Thomas’s background as a skilled and diligent worker with no prior criminal record in either Cayman or Jamaica. She explained that he lost his passport, possibly due to malicious damage by a former partner, which complicated his efforts to seek legal employment after his permit expired.
During his overstay, he supported himself modestly through informal construction jobs, lived frugally, and cooperated fully with authorities upon his arrest. Crucially, he did not use false documents or assume a false identity, a point the court considered in his favour.
Magistrate McFarlane, referencing previous rulings on similar cases, emphasized that visa overstays are serious offences that strike at the integrity of the islands’ border controls, necessitating a deterrent sentence. The custodial threshold was deemed passed.
Magistrate McFarlane carefully considered Thomas’s personal circumstances. The initial starting point for sentencing was assessed at nine months. This was reduced by three months due to his personal situation and demonstrated remorse, bringing it to six months. A further one-third discount was applied for his early guilty plea, resulting in the final sentence of four months’ imprisonment. Credit will be given for time already served.
Thomas was informed of his right to appeal the court’s decision and is expected to face deportation following the completion of his sentence.
