A FATHER of three on Thursday appeared before a city magistrate charged with unlawful assault.
The charge alleged that on July 30, 2018, at Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, the defendant unlawfully assaulted his common-law wife causing actual bodily harm. The resident of Little Diamond pleaded guilty with explanation to the charge that was read out to him in court by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.
According to the facts given in court by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield, on the day in question, the virtual complainant returned home after hanging out with friends and discovered the doors locked. She called the defendant on her cellphone and asked him to open the door.
He responded by opening the door, pushing her down the steps, and dealt her several slaps and lashes about her body with a piece of wood . The matter was reported and the defendant was arrested.
The man explained to the court that he and his wife were living together for three years and had three children. He had never hit her during that time, but he was very annoyed that night because she had left to go to the hospital to collect a medical certificate.
The man told the court that he waited up hours for her to return home. He said she came home after one in the morning, sitting on the steps talking on her phone telling someone: “I reach home safe and what we did was wrong.’’
Upon hearing that, he asked her where she had been so long and she said she was hanging out with friends at the seawall. He got annoyed and slapped her behind her head and lashed her with a piece of wood on her feet.
The man told the court: “I want a better life for my children. We will have our time to party, but for now I just want to focus on getting the things we need in life, not want.’’
After listening to his explanation, the magistrate asked the virtual complainant if what the defendant explained to the court was true. The woman answered: “Yes, your honour.”
The magistrate then told the virtual complainant: “You can’t be married and single at the same time. He has no right to hit you because it’s considered domestic violence and he will face the consequences for his action. At the same time both of you have to keep the balance.’’
Magistrate McLennan then placed the defendant on a bond for six months or, in default, six months in prison.
