Weeks after being ordered to leave the home he shared with the mother of two of his children, Terry Leonne Jordan snuck in with another man, beat and burned her and stole over $3 000 in items.
These were some of the facts read in the No. 4A Supreme Court on Monday after the Rose Hill, St Peter resident pleaded guilty to entering, as a trespasser with an unknown person, the dwelling house of Rachelle Husbands where he stole a handbag, a purse, reading glasses, a pair of headphones, four keys, one cellphone, two bracelets and $90 cash, with a total value of $3 333, belonging to Husbands, and at the time he had a piece of metal, a weapon of offence.
Though denying that he, along with an unknown person, unlawfully caused serious bodily harm to Husbands with intent to do her serious bodily harm or to maim, disfigure or disable her, Jordan admitted to the lesser count of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on the woman.
The offences took place on September 9, 2018.
Reading the facts, Senior State Counsel Romario Straker outlined that Jordan and Husbands were in a relationship but had parted ways before the incident.
In her statement, Husbands said that she and Jordan had several disputes, some of which had turned physical, with the last altercation being in May of 2018 when he struck her, she retaliated and was charged with wounding him. She left the St Lucy residence they shared and lived elsewhere before moving back in July.
On August 13, a court order instructed Jordan to vacate the premises and he did so. The locks for the washroom door were not changed as it was hardly used.
On the day in question, Husbands secured the house, went into her bedroom after midnight, left a window open for ventilation and fell asleep. Sometime after, she awoke to a gloved hand covering her mouth and a person wearing a black stocking mask and black clothing standing over her. The individual straddled her while another person, similarly masked, held her feet. Husbands screamed and the person straddling her cuffed her in her mouth and head. She fought back and during the scuffle, managed to pull the mask from the person’s face and realised that it was Jordan. She recalled smelling alcohol on him. He then struck her in her face several times with a metal pipe before she managed to take it away. Jordan pinned her down, jabbed her eyes, and she became dizzy. The other person in the room picked up her work bag and left with it.
Jordan then took a can of insecticide, lit a cigarette lighter and started spraying it in her direction. She blocked her face with her hands which were then burned, along with her right ear, and she could smell her hair burning. Jordan did this several times. Husbands then tried to escape through the window and managed to get her lower half out before Jordan grabbed her hair while shouting for the other person. She managed to grab the insecticide and spray it into his face until he released her and she ran to her neighbour’s residence for help. The police and ambulance were summoned.
Husbands was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and treated for burns to her hands, right ear, and back. The medical report outlined that her face was severely swollen, with one of her upper teeth broken and pushed deeper into the gum.
Justice Christopher Birch ordered a pre-sentence report and set April 26 as the date for sentencing submissions.
There was no objection to the convicted man remaining on bail in the meantime.
Senior Counsel Michael Lashley and attorney Sade Harris represented Jordan.
