Rillan Hill man appears in court in attempted murder case

The case in which Grafton McDowall of Rillan Hill has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated bodily harm began yesterday at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown.

It is alleged that on January 14, 2016, McDowall attempted to kill Lorna Daniel at her home in Rillan Hill.

When Daniel took the witness stand at court, she said that she fell asleep in her sitting room and around 1 a.m., she felt “something heavy” over her. According to Daniel, when she woke up she saw McDowall over her.{{more}}

“He start stabbing me as hard as he could,” she recalled.

Daniel, who is a farmer, said that she received stabs to the right side of her neck, right arm, collar bone and back. She said while she was being stabbed, she held on to the knife and wrestled with her assailant.

Daniel told the court that she alerted her nine-year-old son and sent him to call her ex-boyfriend Carlos Skerritt, who lives nearby, to help. When Skerritt arrived at the house, he used a sheet to band her wounds and organized transportation to take her to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

It was also revealed in court that Daniel had made several reports to the police concerning McDowall, who she claims broke into her house on one occasion and stole chive from her backyard on several other occasions.

McDowall, who is not represented by a lawyer, was given the opportunity to question Daniel.

He was adamant that Daniel was not telling the truth.

“I never stab you up, Lorna Daniel. You are telling lies on me,” he said repeatedly.

However, Daniel maintained that McDowall stabbed her.

“You stab me up,” she responded.

Carlos Skerritt and his girlfriend, Charmaine Andrews, also took the witness stand yesterday.

The matter has been adjourned to July 7. (CA)