Man remanded over repeated assaults on ex-girlfriend

A St Joseph general worker who admitted to assaulting his former girlfriend on two occasions has been remanded to Dodds Prison pending sentencing, after the chief magistrate condemned his conduct and warned men not to treat women as property.

Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes remanded 33-year-old Ackeem Juwon Kellman, warning him: “Women do not belong to you so do not put your hands on them!”

The Lammings resident appeared in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and admitted to unlawfully assaulting Alicia Arthur, occasioning her actual bodily harm on November 25 and 28.

The two had been in a relationship for over a year, said prosecutor Sergeant Kenmore Phillips.

Last Tuesday morning, after the two returned to her home from an outing, Kellman went inside the house and then returned and began hitting her car window aggressively.

She opened the door, asked if he wanted to break the glass and he accused her of always disrespecting him and an argument ensued.

After she repeatedly asked him for her house keys, Kellman threw them in the backseat and, as she attempted to retrieve them, began punching her about the body, before leaving.

Arthur reported the incident.

Three days later, the two met for his clothing to be handed over as the woman put him out of her home and, in the presence of a police officer, Kellman again struck the complainant before fleeing the scene.

He was chased, managed to escape but was apprehended later.

Kellman, who has one previous conviction for assault, told the court that he had contacted Arthur to collect his clothes, and was told that they had been taken to the police station, but after checking was informed that the articles were not there.

He said: “A day I see she downtown and I see Alicia with my wallet in her hand after she done tell me that the things were at the police station. Up to now I don’t have my clothes. She keep all my things. My bank card, my licence, all my tools for work. I ain’t had nothing. It was not right for me to put my hands on her but I was frustrated, and she does get frustrated and tek it out on other people.”

But the chief magistrate replied: “So you could not as a big adult take a decision that you were done with that and leave her? You are a free man. She was not holding you and if she had your things, you needed to take the proper course of action and report it to the police.”

“I will give you time to sit, ponder and reflect. Women are free to make their choices. We do not have to agree with them and when we as men feel that they are making bad choices, we have a choice to move away and leave them. She is not a child. And women, remember Beenie Man – ‘if ya fed up with ya boyfriend, let him go’.”

Kellman will return to court on December 18 for sentencing.