Written by Jenel Rockcliffe
GEOFFREY Jones, 34, a farmer of Parima Airstrip, Upper Mazaruni, Essequibo, will spend the next 18 months behind bars, compliments of Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, because he admitted to “mistakenly biting off” a piece of his friend Vali Claud’s nose during a fight over a vodka row at Jones’s home on October 4.“It was a mistake” the remorseful farmer declared, after admitting he had gnawed away at his friend’s nose.

The court was told that, according to the injury report, a piece of the victim’s nose was lost, and as a result he has to undergo surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he is currently an in-patient.
Corporal Bharat Mangru, prosecuting, said that when Claud visited Jones, they started to consume alcohol (vodka) at 21:00 hrs on the day of the incident, whereupon an argument ensued over an empty vodka bottle and the two men ended up scuffling. When Claud later retired to sit on a bench, Jones got up from the floor and bit him on his nose. A report was subsequently made to the police, and Jones was arrested and charged.
When the magistrate asked Jones why he had bitten Claud’s nose, he replied: “My Worship, it was a mistake, I never do nothing like this…”
Jones explained that he was consuming alcohol with his family members and Claud when he suddenly saw two boys fighting. He arose from his seat to go and part the boys, when Claud “hold on pun me and I tumbled, and the same time I bite he nose.”
After considering the seriousness of Claud’s injury, the magistrate sentenced Jones to 18 months’ imprisonment.