‘Dangerous’ man jailed for string of violent attacks: Cayman News Service

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(CNS): A man described as a danger to the public and at high risk of committing another violent crime was found guilty in 2022 of brutally attacking two different men within a week in November 2021. According to a ruling recently published on the judicial website, Howard Lee Ebanks (38) was sentenced to 27 months in prison in December 2023. Ebanks pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and wounding for the different attacks, one of which was allegedly a revenge attack and the other an attack of anger.

Ebanks is accused of attacking Devon Anthony Ebanks outside Kelly’s Pub in West Bay on November 14, 2021, and Nicholas Derek McLaughlin outside the Hell Gas Station four days later.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years, but Ebanks is currently on probation following a violent attack at Seven Mile Public Beach in September 2018. Ebanks was involved in an argument with another man over money, which was captured on television, but the victim was shown walking away from the confrontation.

However, Ebanks approached with a metal pipe and hit the victim with it, causing the victim to fall to the ground. The defendant then left the scene and returned with a machete, but was subdued and taken away by another person.

In the two November cases, Ebanks claimed that the first case was caused by two major incidents in his past: a home invasion at his residence and the murder of his brother, who has not yet been charged. However, Ebanks claimed that he was killed by the victim of the attack.

The attack was again captured on CCTV when Ebanks launched a very violent attack on Devon Ebanks, who was sitting outside the West Bay bar and was extremely drunk.

The man broke a Heineken bottle during an argument over comments he made about Howard Ebanks’ brother and walked towards the victim as if he was going to cut him, raising his right hand and gesturing, according to evidence tendered to the court.

The defendant then rushed at the victim and struck him in the face multiple times. He grabbed the victim by the shirt/throat and threw him headfirst against the wall of the bar, at which point the victim became extremely weak and appeared to have passed out.

Several people standing around appeared to yell at Ebanks to stop, but he ignored them and at times approached them in a threatening manner. He crossed the street and rushed back to the still unconscious victim, kicking him several times and striking him in the head and chest.

He then stamped on the victim’s head, even though the victim was motionless and appeared to be lifeless. The defendant then crossed the road again and returned to the victim in an aggressive and hasty manner, picked up a metal stool and stamped on the victim’s head as he lay there.

The man was eventually taken to hospital, where he was treated for severe blunt force trauma as well as abrasions and contusions to his head and face, including his eyes and mouth.

Ebanks was not arrested until November 18, and when he was cautioned, he responded, “Yes, I beat Devin last Saturday night, sir. He killed my brother, sir, and it’s very heartbreaking.” (The word “Enuh” was used in the verdict.)

However, before he was arrested, he had attacked his second victim after an argument over a receipt. Ebanks was working at Pop-a-Top, a liquor store in West Bay, when Derek McLaughlin came in to buy some beer and asked for a receipt. Ebanks said the cash register wasn’t working and he didn’t need a receipt because he had paid the exact amount. The customer insisted on a receipt, but after an argument and threats were exchanged, Ebanks hit McLaughlin on the forearm with a metal bar.

Another man stopped this and took the victim. He then headed to the Hell gas station, where he sat and drank a beer. But a few moments later, Ebanks drove by. He turned his car around and drove into the gas station. He stopped his car, got out, pulled a machete from his car and began to repeatedly hack at the victim’s head. The victim struggled with the defendant and was able to disarm him. The machete fell and a third party picked it up and secured it. The defendant returned to his car and left the scene.

The machete was then handed over to police. Later that day, Ebanks was arrested and admitted to the attack. The victim was taken to hospital and treated for two cuts to his scalp and multiple cuts to his wrist, hand and thumb.

Devin Ebanks said he suffered a punctured eardrum and was in so much pain that he was unable to work, but he would not talk about the attack because he feared retaliation from the defendant, while McLaughlin refused to provide the court with any information about the long-term effects of the attack on him.

The defendant had been charged with nineteen crimes, almost all of them drug-related, and at the time of the two violent attacks he was on probation for assault.

According to a social investigation report conducted in February last year, he began taking drugs and alcohol since he was a child and had run-ins with the law. In 2008, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for importing cocaine. Ebanks is said to have a long history of alcoholism and drug abuse.

In 2002, he was involved in a violent incident at his brother’s home where a man was killed. In 2005, his brother was shot and killed outside his mother’s home. Ebanks has always believed that Devin Ebanks was involved in his brother’s murder. On the night Howard Ebanks attacked him, Devin Ebanks said, “I’m going to put you next to him,” which angered him.

Mr Ebanks said he was drunk at the time and would not have behaved in the way he did if he had been sober. He expressed regret for what he did, given the situation the defendant was in, but said the victim had asked for it.

Ebanks said he was “enraged” when he felt blood on his face and he began chasing the second victim. He admitted he had looked for the victim. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is believed to be a contributing factor, but his actions were still affected by the unrelated attack four days earlier.

However, the probation officer said it was a targeted attack on a defenceless person without regard for the possible consequences. The officer said while Ebanks expressed a degree of understanding of the seriousness of the offence, he did not believe the victim had suffered any long-term psychological damage.

The social worker warned: “This lack of victim awareness is concerning and the belief that no serious harm has been caused may mean the client will not stop taking similar actions in the future.”

Judge Cheryll Richards, who took into account an in-depth psychiatric report in sentencing, said the attack on Devin Ebanks was vicious, brutal and prolonged. In the second case, the injuries inflicted were less severe but it was still a prolonged attack using a machete.

After taking into account all mitigating factors relating to the psychiatric and social investigation reports, the circumstances of the case and Ebanks’ earlier confession, she set a sentence of 18 months for each offence. Despite being completely separate offences, the judge ordered that only part of the second sentence run concurrently.

“In this case, consecutive sentences are appropriate,” the judge said in her ruling. She added: “Half of the sentence in count 17/22 of the indictment should run consecutively with the sentence in count 24/22 of the indictment, taking into account the principles of integrity and proportionality.”

As a result, Ebanks no longer faced three years in prison, but was sentenced to two years and three months in prison (including time already served).