Accused remanded on serious bodily harm charges

A 26-year-old man accused of inflicting serious bodily harm on two others has been remanded at Dodds for the next 28 days.

Turvy Jonathan Frederick, who resides at Brewsters Road, Barbarees Hill, St Michael, is charged with causing serious bodily harm to Rommel Hunter and Sydney Boyce on September 2, 2023, with intent to maim, disfigure or disable them or to do some serious bodily harm to them.

He could not plead to the indictable charges before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court presided by Magistrate Alison Burke. 

Officer Ralph Rollock objected to bail for the accused on several grounds, including the nature and seriousness of the charges and the fact that Frederick is a non-national visiting the island and has had his name called in connection with two serious matters. 

One of the virtual complainants, the prosecutor submitted, was still hospitalised and there were concerns that the accused would re-offend or abscond if granted bail at this time.

In seeking to convince the court that his client was a fit and proper candidate for bail, attorney-at-law Kyle Walkes disclosed that Frederick had ties to the country as his father was Barbadian and willing to stand as a surety. He added that the accused had visited the country several times and was scheduled to leave at the end of the year.

“It is not unusual for bail to be granted to CARICOM nationals . . . . That should not be a reason why he is denied bail. Those [allegations] came out of one incident, and my instructions are that it was in self-defence. He is 26 years old with no criminal history in Barbados, never ran afoul of the law,” said the defence attorney who also submitted that his client was willing to adhere to stringent bail conditions, including reporting to a police station, curfew and surrendering his passport.

However, Magistrate Burke told the defence that the court was not minded to grant bail at this time for several reasons, including that one of the complainants was still hospitalised.

Frederick was remanded to Dodds prison until October 9, 2023.