Sassine lad acquitted of wounding charge

A young member of the Sassine family walked out of the court room a free man on Monday after the court dismissed a wounding case against him.{{more}}

Rami Sassine of Sion Hill Bay was acquitted by the Serious Offences Court after Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman found inconsistencies in the evidence given by the virtual complainant, David Sprott of Cane Garden.

Sassine was accused of wounding Sprott in the forehead with a piece of stick on November 11 last year.

The incident occurred at the Sion Hill Beach, close to the Sassine’s residence.

The young Sassine had gone to the beach to look for Sprott after his sister, Rani, contacted him at work and complained that Sprott had accosted her with a cutlass in their gateway and demanded money.

Sprott, who previously worked with the Sassines, admitted that he did ask the Sassine lass for five dollars, but he denied that he had any cutlass at the time.

He also told the court that he later collected the cutlass from where he had earlier left it. He said he went into the sea to bathe and took the cutlass with him as he tried to escape the stones and bottles hurled at him by Sassine and another man.

Sassine told the court that he hurled stones at Sprott and demanded he apologise to his sister in an attempt to delay him until the police arrived. He also told the court that after he struck Sprott on the forehead with the stick, he advised him to lay on the sand and place his head in a position that would ease the bleeding.

Sassine was represented by lawyer Ronald Marks.