In the heat of an argument, a 50-year-old man armed with a cutlass threatened to kill his nephew but said moments before he was remanded to Dodds, “I din goan do that.”
Dorin Kerna Clarke, of Whitehall Tenantry Road, St Michael told Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant, “It was just talk. I told him I would kill him but it was just out of anger.”
Clarke, a landscaper, who is known to the law courts, had just pleaded guilty to assaulting Jamal Clarke on February 25.
The District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court heard from constable Kenmore Philips that the two reside in the same house after the older Clarke got permission from his sister – Jamal’s mother – to live there.
But the two have been at loggerheads since the older relative moved in particularly over tidiness on his part. They had not been on speaking terms.
The younger Clarke subsequently forbade his uncle from using his fridge because he continually kept it untidy. And to ensure that he did not use the appliance, Jamal unplugged it.
However when he arrived home this past Tuesday he discovered his fridge had been moved to another location and another one in its place. Jamal proceeded to move the appliance and while doing so his uncle came at him with cutlass and threatened him.
Fearful for his life he left the house and reported the matter to his mother and the police.
But the accused told the magistrate he had been “provoked numerous times” by Jamal.
“My auntie Ione gave me permission to move in the house not her,” he stated referring to Jamal’s mother. “And while my auntie was here I ask what is to become of the property?”
The accused then went on to explain that he moved the fridge because Jamal had unplugged the other one months before.
“I came home and found my fridge door open and the fruits I had just buy opened and water all ‘round my fridge.
“He was at home already. He pushed me. That was a provoking act. I pushed him back and took the sword and pushed him in a corner. He pushed me first. That was it. It was just talk. I told him I would kill him. It was just out of anger but I din goan do that,” the accused said.
Jamal meanwhile was adamant: “I did not put my hand on Dorin.”
He explained he was trying to put his fridge back in its original position and “he didn’t want to allow that and that is where the altercation come from.”
The matter resumes on March 26.
