Lee Martin-Cramp is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11th before Justice Iain Morley who presided over his trial for the past week. It was on Thursday that a jury found the UK policeman guilty of raping another visitor in Antigua, however, the date for sentencing was not immediately known.
While Martin-Cramp, who was 26 when arrested, awaits sentencing, he would remain on remand at the former US Naval Base which was declared a prison last year after he won a court battle regarding the unsanitary and inhumane conditions at Her Majesty’s Prison. That matter was heard in the UK where he was fighting his extradition to face the rape trial in Antigua.
Now that he has been found guilty, Martin-Cramp could be jailed for life, which is the maximum penalty for rape. And, if he is indeed incarcerated, he would not be sent to Her Majesty’s Prison but is instead likely to remain at the naval base.
OBSERVER media has also confirmed with local government sources, that he has the option of serving in the UK, the last six months of whatever sentence he gets, as per an agreement between the government here and the UK.
During the trial, which lasted a week, the jury had heard that in May 2015, the British policeman met the young lady on a dating app called Tinder, and while he was on holiday in Antigua, they went to a bar. But before going out on the date, the woman testified, she told the officer not to expect her to have sex with him. She said since he was a police officer, she trusted him and believed he understood this.
After spending some time at the bar, they went to her apartment and talked a while on the balcony before going inside where they shared wine.
The duo decided to watch a film on Netflix but before doing so, the victim left the room to change. She returned and when she resumed drinking her wine, she noticed it had a strange taste, so she immediately mentioned it to the cop and he explained that he had gone into her fridge where he found vodka, and he added some. He said mixing the wine that way, was something folks did in the UK.
The woman recalled that she had a few more sips of wine and began feeling dizzy, so she stopped drinking it. The cop then forced himself on her, she resisted, but was overpowered. She later woke up bruised and in pain.
The young woman said she maintained Whatsapp contact with her rapist after the incident so she could eventually get him to admit the crime.
When he admitted and told her to pretend it never happened, she reported it to police and the information was used as evidence in court.
It was a legal first that Martin-Cramp was extradited from the UK to Antigua last September to face the criminal charge. After seven days of trial the jury took just three hours to convict him.
UK newsrooms have been reporting that a misconduct review will be conducted by the Mets Directorate of Professional Standards now that the case has ended.