A MOTHER in Berbice who was convicted on an unlawful wounding charge has been temporally spared a jail term after she was granted $100,000 bail pending an appeal.Baswantie Barrat, called ‘Geeta’, and her son were among three persons who were sentenced to twelve months imprisonment after being convicted for unlawfully wounding Gobin Lall Beharry, called ‘Boy’.

However, following her conviction, a petition was filed for bail pending an appeal hearing. The petition was granted by acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, who allowed her pre-trial liberty considering that the appellant has a two-year-old child.
Counsel for the defendants, Attorney-at-law Charrandas Persaud moved to the Berbice High Court in an effort to have the bail petitions for the other defendants, Hemraj Latchman, called ‘Ajay’, and Lakeram Samaroo, known as ‘Narvin’, granted by Justice Brassington Reynolds.
But after perusing the records, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms. Judith Mursaline, who represented the state, objected to bail after noting that the defendants were represented by an attorney during the trial, but the counsel did not cross-examine the virtual complainant (VC).
“He ought not to rely on the grounds that the VC was not cross-examined as grounds for being granted bail,” she argued.
Subsequently her objection was upheld by the judge.
On February 25 last, Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs Marcus found Barrat, 38 years, and Latchman, 19 years, of West Canefield, along with Samaroo, 25 years, of Lot 102 East Canefield, East Canje, Berbice, guilty at the Reliance Magistrate’s Court.
The charges stated that on June 26, 2013 at West Canefield the trio unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm on Beharry.
On that date, there was an earlier misunderstanding between the neighbours and that matter was settled, but the VC was standing on his bridge when the three defendants approached him.
The mother and her son pushed Beharry into a nearby drain, while Samaroo, who was armed with a piece of wood, dealt the victim several lashes to his head and left hand, resulting in injuries.
During his evidence at the New Amsterdam Court, Beharry said that Barrat’s husband, assisted in pulling him out of the drain, but the woman and her son dragged him into their home where the beating by the defendants continued.
However, he managed to flee and reported the incident at the Reliance Police Station.
He was advised to seek medical attention at the New Amsterdam Hospital, where a doctor wrote a certificate which indicated that there was swelling to the temporal region of the head, swelling to the left hand, a bruised right knee and a laceration to the left postauricular region.