A man who was mobbed and beaten after being accused of breaking into a woman’s house and demanding sex appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court last week.
But the accused, Oneil Walker, pleaded not guilty to burglary and wounding with intent.
The court heard that on the day in question Walker broke into the complainant’s home in East Kingston and demanded sex. When his request was refused, he took up the complainant’s television.
The woman reportedly grabbed Walker in his chest and made an alarm. A male relative went to her assistance.
The court was also told that Walker pulled a knife at the male relative, used it to stab the man then fled.
However, neighbours, who had heard the commotion, descended on Walker and beat him.
On Wednesday when the matter was mentioned, Senior Resident Magistrate (RM) Judith Pusey, after hearing the allegations, asked why Walker was on bail .
“I was in (Kingston) public hospital for one month and six days,” Walker said.
“Why you complaining, you know why you were there,” RM Pusey said. “You know you can’t get no sympathy from me.”
Walker then denied breaking into the complainant’s home and wounding her male relative.
“I wasn’t in her house, is her brother attack me,” he said.
Walker’s bail was then extended for him to return to court on April 15.
DISPUTE OVER CALCULATOR ENDS IN COMMUNITY SERVICE ORDER
A young man who was involved in a fight with his female classmate who cut him with a knife when they got home from school, told the court that she attacked him because he had refused to loan her his calculator.
“A mi calculator she want, mi calculator, and mi say no,” 29-year-old Ralston Miller said when he appeared in court on Wednesday.
Miller is charged with assault occasioning bodily harm for hitting Shanice Watson, 21, while Watson appeared on a charge of unlawful wounding for using the knife to stab Miller.
The fight had reportedly started at a skills training institution in Kingston and resumed in their community.
Miller, in his defence, also told the court that he only hit Watson because she attacked him with the knife.
“She was stabbing mi up and cut mi on mi hand,” he explained.
But Watson told the court that it was Miller who had first attacked her and had stabbed her with a pen while they were at school.
“He stab mi with the pen first and when I reach home I stab him with the knife,” she told the court.
The magistrate, after listening to both of them, ordered them to do 100 hours of community service each.
HANDCART MAN ACCUSED OF STABBING WOMAN
A young man accused of chasing a woman and stabbing her multiple times after hitting her with his handcart was remanded in custody.
Raymar Tibby, 19, of Kingston 5, is charged with wounding with intent.
The court heard that the complainant was walking in downtown Kingston when the accused, who was pushing a handcart, used the cart to bounce her.
The complainant reportedly touched him and told him that he had used the cart to hit her and an argument developed.
During the argument Tibby reportedly punched the accused in her mouth and pulled a knife at her. She ran onto Princess Street and into a shop.
However, it is reported that Tibby chased and stabbed her several times, causing her to fall to the ground.
The complainant was taken to Kingston Public Hospital where she was hospitalised for some time and treated.
However, Tibby’s lawyer, Hopeton Marshall, denied the allegations.
He subsequently asked for the matter to be rescheduled for mention and Tibby was remanded. He is scheduled to return to court on March 4.
WOMAN HELD WITH GANJA, COUNTERFEIT US$ STUNS RM
A woman who was reportedly caught with 16 1/2 pounds of ganja and US$500 in counterfeit notes bowled over the magistrate after she related to the court how she had come to be in possession of the illegal goods.
Nineteen-year-old Latoya Burke told RM Judith Pusey that she had purchased a raffle ticket and that she had won an all-expense paid trip, which was accompanied with spending money.
Burke, a pig vendor of Linstead, St Catherine, was arrested and charged on February 16 after the ganja was found in her suitcase, and the counterfeit notes found in her handbag at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
Burke was destined for Trinidad.
Last Wednesday when Burke appeared in court she relayed her incredible tale after her lawyer, Patrick Peterkin, told the magistrate that his client got caught up in the unfortunate situation after she won a trip to Trinidad.
“First I am hearing this one,” the magistrate quipped before Burke launched into her story.
“Well, Your Honour, you can ask mi mada. I had some raffle tickets and the first prize was a trip to Trinidad, the second prize was a TV, and the third was a fan,” she said.
The accused explained that it was a regular practice of hers to buy raffle tickets and that she did not even remember that she had bought the tickets until someone had called her to inform her that she had won.
“They called me and say ‘congratulations, you are the winner of etc’, and I said, ‘yeah, right’,” Burke said.
But she said she later got a second call from the same person who requested her passport information, which convinced her that the trip was real and so she gave the person her passport information.
Following that, Burke said the person called her and made arrangements for her to meet with persons from the company.
“They said they had some people on the road selling and I had actually bought one,” Burke said. “I buy it from a lady on the road.”
“They said I won US$800 spending cash and they asked me if I have a suitcase and I said ‘no’, and they said I would get one with new clothes, an all-expense-paid trip,” she added.
The magistrate, after listening to Burke, said, “Anytime a story sound too good to be true, it usually is.”
“I have been doing this for 16 years and it is the first time I am hearing this story,” the magistrate further said before remanding Burke until March 16.
