Axe weilder must compensate victim

FOR ATTACKING ANOTHER man with a hammer and an axe, causing injuries to the face of the said person, a New Montrose resident has been handed a prison sentence of 30 months, which will be suspended for 12 months.

This means that Clem Neverson, convicted at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Monday, June 28, for the unlawful and malicious wounding of Bencito Bramble, will have to walk the straight and narrow for 12 months, or this sentence of 30 months will be activated.

Further, the offender will have to dig deep into his pockets for $3500 in compensation to the victim, to be paid by December 31, in default of which he will spend 11 months in prison.

This is the penalty that the court decided in the incident that occurred on April 26, 2020, at New Montrose, and apparently left Bramble with stitches to the head, a severed tongue in three places, and a split lip.

According to Bramble, who is also a New Montrose resident, he met Neverson and a taximan acquaintance of his when he alighted from a minibus on his way home. He was asked by his acquaintance to join them, but he refused saying he was in a rush. He said Neverson began following him, asking him to buy rum, until he cursed at him. Neverson left and returned with an ax and hammer. Bramble said he thought Neverson was “playing”, so he stopped and turned around. He said the ax was thrown at him, and it knocked his hat off. Bramble said that Neverson kept “coming and attacking me, and I just kept backing up, backing up, backing up until I fell, and that’s when he jump on top of me and started hitting me with the axe and the hammer.”

Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett, had made observations during the trial, including that the defendant did not seem to display remorse. Further, it was noted that Neverson has a criminal record littered with convictions for acts of violence.

While Bramble told the magistrate that compensation for his pain and suffering is something that he would like, the reality is that Neverson may not be able to pay compensation quickly based on his means.

Nevertheless, the court weighed the fact that although the offence warranted a prison term, it could not be deaf to the complainant’s request for compensation.