$9 000 due to victim of knife attack

Rommel Treyton Bradshaw has been ordered to pay $9 000 in compensation to a man whose throat he slashed just over seven years ago.

He has four months to pay the money. Failing that, he will spend three years in prison.

In addition, Madam Justice Wanda Blair sentenced the Tourville Road, Horse Hill, St Joseph resident to three years imprisonment, suspended for one year.

“That means that if you commit any offence or you are found guilty of any offence in the next year, then you will have to serve three years imprisonment in this matter. So it is in your interest to keep out of the courts,” the judge warned.

Last November, a nine-member jury in Supreme Court No. 4A had found Bradshaw not guilty of unlawfully wounding Terrence Thompson with intent to do him serious bodily harm or to maim, disfigure or disable him on December 22, 2017, but guilty of the lesser charge of unlawfully and maliciously wounding him on that same date.

Noting that the doctor had reported that the wound was not life-threatening at that time “but had the potential to be” due to its location on the neck, Justice Blair called the convicted man’s behaviour “unacceptable”.

“The court finds your behaviour on that day to be unacceptable. While you claimed the complainant was basically playing around with you, you resorted to cutting his throat in an area which could have potentially cost him his life if the knife had gone a bit deeper. There was no justification for that behaviour. What jumps out at me when I read your pre-sentence report is that you are an aggressive person, which is compounded by your use of alcohol,” she said.

Giving a four-year starting sentence for the offence, Justice Blair discounted 12 months for the delay in the matter being brought to trial.

The judge contended that while Bradshaw had not expressed remorse for his action, the court did not believe that a custodial sentence was required to meet justice in the matter before making the order for compensation.

The matter will be reviewed on April 25.

In his testimony, Thompson said he had been sitting alone at a table in Lucky Horseshoe, City Centre Mall, Bridgetownwhen Bradshaw approached him and begged for money. He gave him $20, which Bradshaw used to buy beers and they drank them.

Thompson said he went to the bathroom to wash his hands and Bradshaw came up to him and “quick so” cut his throat.
Principal State Counsel Joyann Catwell and State Counsel Eleazar Williams prosecuted the case, while Bradshaw was selfrepresented.