— mother of scissors-attack victim moving to High Court

THE mother of a 16-year-old student of the Patentia Secondary School, who was stabbed in his skull with a pair of scissors by another male student in the school compound, is moving to the High Court because she is dissatisfied with a magistrate’s ruling.

Over two years ago, on February 13, then 14-year-old Neil Miggins of 79 Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara was struck by an older student, who threw at him a pair of scissors that became lodged in his head.

Miggins, at the time, was running down a flight of stairs in the school when he brushed his attacker on the left hand, and as he continued on his way, he felt an impact to his head, which was caused by the scissors that was thrown at him.

Earlier this month, Wales Magistrate Clive Nurse fined 17-year-old Olatungi Wilson $100,000 after the defendant was found guilty of inflicting the grievous wound to Miggins on February 6, 2013.

Wilson, who is a student of the Leonora Technical Institute, was convicted in November, but sentencing was deferred to await a probation officer’s report.

The probation report revealed that Wilson had been before the court a few years ago on a charge of simple larceny, and was placed under statutory supervision for two years after being found guilty.
Magistrate Nurse disclosed the report stated that Wilson had lost his temper on the day of the incident, but has begun making positive changes in his life. He has also disassociated himself from delinquent company.

In light of the mitigating factors, the magistrate made his ruling based on the report, and considered that Wilson was young and attended the same school as Miggins. The ruling also took into account that Wilson had shown remorse and had apologised to the court and the victim’s mother, Barbara Miggins.

OFFER REJECTED
The magistrate also pointed out that Wilson’s family had offered to compensate the victim, but Miggins’s mother had rejected the offer since the two sides could not agree on a favourable sum. Miggins’s mother had opted for $1.8M on account of her son’s suffering, but this was later lowered to $1.5M. Wilson’s offer had been only $200,000.

The convicted teenager was not given a custodial sentence, but was instead ordered to pay the fine with an alternative of six months’ imprisonment, and was also placed on a bond to keep the peace for one year.

The injured lad’s mother, Barbara Miggins, considers the magistrate’s ruling disappointing, and contends that her son was made a victim twice, since she said no justice was served.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday via telephone, Mrs Miggins explained that she was asked to consider a sum of compensation, which she initially set at $1.8M and later reduced it to $1.5M; but the boy’s mother opted to pay only $200,000, which she found disrespectful.

“My son only turned out back to school last September, and has to undergo another surgery since he is bleeding from his brain, while he also had a hole in his skull because of the scissors. And when I told the magistrate that in court, he urged me to compose myself,” Mrs Miggins related.

She also told this newspaper that her Attorney, Bernard DeSantos, has since appealed the matter in the High Court. The woman further said that, since the incident, her son has been suffering from psychiatric episodes, and would often relapse, lashing out in violent behaviour.

A distraught Mrs Miggins also noted that her son is a patient of Senior Government Psychiatrist Dr Bhairo Harry, since, according to her, “My son can never be himself again”.