Four Frenchmen Convicted in St. Maarten for Attack against Gay Tourists

Four French nationals were convicted Thursday of beating two gay tourists from New York on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten in a brutal attack that left one of the victims, an employee of the CBS News show “48 Hours,” with brain damage.

Three citizens of the island’s French half, Glen Cockly, Micheline Delaney and Allan Daniel, and a man from the nearby French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Michel Javois, were found guilty of public violence and grievous bodily harm.

The judge determined that Javois, nicknamed Duracell, was the one who assaulted Ryan Smith and Richard Jefferson with a tire iron as they left a bar with friends on April 6. Smith suffered brain damage and was unable to speak properly for months. Jefferson’s skull was cracked by a blow from the tire iron.

Javois, who led the others in the attack, received a six-year prison sentence, while Cockly and Daniel got three-year terms.

Delaney, accused of kicking one of the victims while he was on the ground, will spend six months incarcerated. Stein said she tried to stop the attack and had expressed remorse.