Former Bermuda regiment commanding officer jailed for corruption

David Curley, a former commanding officer of the Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), has been jailed by a Supreme Courtroom choose after admitting a cost of official corruption.

Curley, 55, had pleaded responsible final July to asking Justin Williams, a distinguished lawyer who died in the USA in November 2021, for a nomination to affix the Order of St. John in trade for firearms and an appointment as authorized adviser to the regiment.

The offence happened over a number of months in 2015 earlier than Curley’s promotion to go of the RBR with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in February 2016.

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At Wednesday’s listening to, Puisne Choose Juan Wolffe jailed Curley for 18 months in jail and extra 12 months suspended sentence.

Mr. Justice Wolffe stated a time period of imprisonment was essential to ship out a deterrent message.

At a pre-sentence listening to final month, Curley, a father of two, described how his crime had wrecked his life.

After serving within the regiment for 30 years, he was positioned on depart in 2019. He has since been unable to seek out work and his marriage ended.

He stated: “You attempt to take at some point at a time, however it’s troublesome to try this. I give it some thought each day – it’s a horrible place to be.”

After David Curley was sentenced, Governor Rena Lalgie, who dismissed him final yr, stated his actions didn’t replicate the values of the regiment.

Lalgie stated: “I’m conscious of the sentencing at the moment of the previous commanding officer of the Royal Bermuda Regiment, Mr. David Curley.

“In gentle of Mr. Curley’s act of contrition to the cost of official corruption, I, as Commander-in-Chief of the regiment, dismissed Mr. Curley on September 8, 2022, as a person of the Royal Bermuda Regiment and revoked his entitlement of rank in accordance with Part 31 of the Defence Act 1965.

“I stay assured that this particular person’s actions will not be reflective of the values and requirements of those that serve. This incident doesn’t diminish the pleasure that we rightly have in our regiment.”

On the time of his dying 14 months in the past from kidney failure and COVID-19, Williams, a former Bermuda Bar Council president, had been named in Supreme Courtroom corruption prices, however his lawyer, Jerome Lynch, stated an indictment was by no means served on his shopper.

CMC/