Guilty pleas entered by two brothers accused of serious bodily harm were not accepted by a High Court judge, after the siblings claimed they had acted in self-defence.
When Enoch and Nathaniel Taitt appeared in the No. 5 Supreme Court, they were arraigned and initially pleaded guilty to doing serious bodily harm to Simon Foster with intent to maim, disfigure or disable him or to do some other serious bodily harm, on November 22, 2018.
However, Enoch subsequently told Justice Pamela Beckles that while they had committed the offence, they did so in self-defence.
On hearing that, the judge told the brothers she could not accept their pleas, based on those circumstances.
“Your plea should be not guilty if you are saying self-defence. If you are saying that the person attacked you and that you were acting in self-defence, then you should be saying ‘not guilty’ and proceed to trial and see if the jury believes you or not,” she said.
The Taitt brothers then pleaded not guilty to the lesser count of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on Foster.
Crown Counsel Danielle Mottley is appearing on behalf of the Crown while the two accused are unrepresented.
Justice Beckles has set July 11, 2022, as their trial date.
