Teen admits injuring elderly man with curtain rod

Teenager Raekwon Jarell Pinder is now on remand at Dodds awaiting his fate after admitting to unlawfully and maliciously wounding a 72-year-old man with a curtain rod.

The 19-year-old from Browne’s Gap, Jackson, St Michael pleaded guilty before Magistrate Manila Renee today to committing the offence against Michael Griffith on September 20.

He however denied damaging a pair of glasses belonging to the elderly man on the same day or that he was reckless as to whether such property would be damaged.

Sergeant Paul Prescod told the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court that the two rented rooms in an apartment.

Pinder, he said, had previously accused Griffith of stealing $250 from his room  and the elderly man levelled his own accusation saying that Pinder had used his olive oil.

On Monday around 6:15 a.m. Griffith was in the shared kitchen when Pinder, according to the prosecutor, accosted and struck him several times about the hands and body with a metal curtain rod while his back was turned.

Griffith was able to get the rod from Pinder and the landlord intervened and the culprit fled. The complainant sustained several abrasions and a laceration to his left hand. He received medical attention at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and was released the following day.

Sergeant Prescod informed Magistrate Renee that Pinder was already on bail for robbery and the prosecution was objecting to bail on the criminal damage charge, which the accused denied, for fear that he would reoffend.

Meanwhile Griffith, who was in court, explained that he had been living at the residence for the past five years and Pinder had only been there for a matter of weeks. He also revealed that he was injured on his left hand, back and face.

When Pinder was asked by the Magistrate whether he had anything to say, he simply shook his head.

He was remanded to reappear before the court on October 20 when he is expected to be sentenced.