Car washer threatened guard because he was upset about sister’s death

Car washer Junior Antonio Gittens says he was “offset” on the day he threatened the life of a female security
guard.

The 41-year-old of Bynoe Road, Worthing View, Christ Church gave that explanation to Magistrate Alison Burke on Wednesday as he pleaded for leniency.

Gittens pleaded guilty to using the threatening words, “I gine kill you today, don’t come out tonight. If I don’t do it, I gine get somebody to do it,” towards Marlene Griffith on March 31, 2023, which caused her to believe that immediate unlawful violence would be used against her.

He also entered a guilty plea to the charge of having a flick knife in a public place on April 3, 2023.

Sergeant Verdon Forde, in relaying the facts to the “District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, said that on March 31, Griffith had occasion to speak to Gittens and he issued the threat. The matter was reported to the police.

The flick knife was found when he was stopped and searched by police in connection with another matter, three days later, in the area of the Worthing Post Office car park.

In explaining his actions to the magistrate, Gittens said he washes vehicles and the knife he had was to cut the sponges he used. “That is the purpose for that knife. The knife was in my bag,” he said.

On the threat charge, he said the day Griffith approached him, he was dealing with the death of his sister and other matters. 

“It was just a upset thing at the time. I was triggered and I didn’t mean it . . . . All these things was just escalating in my head,” Gittens sought to explain.

However, Magistrate Burke told him that he could not “go around threatening people” because he was experiencing tough times and was upset.

Gittens replied: “I asking for mercy and . . . leniency . . . . It wasn’t nothing intentional. It was a case of being offset and that was it, Ma’am.”

He was placed on a bond to keep the peace and be on his best behaviour for the next six months.

If Gittens breaches the order, he will have to pay a $750 forthwith fine or spend three months in prison.