‘Stone ranger’ to pay damages
A father who stoned a man whom he felt had sexually assaulted his 11-year-old daughter will have to fork out $1 350 in compensation and court costs.
The 33-year-old Christ Church man, who was being sought by police, appeared in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to maliciously wounding the 55-year-old man last December 9.
Last month, the girl’s 35-year-old mother, too, ended up in court, where she admitted to attempting to kill the man after she found her daughter hiding in his wardrobe when she went looking for her.
The man, a mechanic, was not required to plead to the indictable charge of indecently assaulting a minor.
Yesterday, the girl’s father admitted to damaging a door, a window and two louvres, totalling $1 000, belonging to the same man.
According to prosecutor Station Sergeant Neville Reid, after the mother found the girl hiding in the wardrobe, she went home and returned with the father. The woman attacked the 55-year-old with a knife while the father threw stones at him. One of them struck him on the forehead.
The father also broke a sash window, damaged a glass panel wooden front door and two sets of louvres.
Attorney Verla Depeiza, who appeared on behalf of the father, asked Magistrate Douglas Frederick to be lenient to her client. She said it was the first time he had run afoul of the law and that he had been provoked.
Depeiza said the circumstances “pushed him” to commit the act.
Magistrate Frederick ordered the man to pay $1 000 in compensation in three months, with an alternative of three months in prison.
He also fined him $350 in relation to the wounding charge and placed him on a bond to keep the peace for the next six months. If he breaches it, he will spend three months in prison.
Last month, when the mother appeared before Magistrate Frederick, she told the court: “I was angry. I wanted to kill him,” after pleading guilty to unlawfully and maliciously wounding the man.
She was released on $2 500 bail and ordered to return to court on March 16, when a pre-sentencing report is also expected to be heard. (RB)