A Campden Park man is in hospital with a severed hand and other injuries, while another villager has been remanded in custody in connection with the crime.
Alphious Stephenson was denied bail when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias at the Serious Offences Court on Monday.
He was not required to plead to the indictable charge that on Sept. 13 at Campden Park, he wounded Deon Baptiste of the same address.
Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche objected to bail, telling the court that the virtual complainant is in hospital with cutlass injuries.
“One of his hands has been severed,” Delplesche told the court, adding that the investigator, Detective Corporal Philbert Chambers, cited doctors as saying that Baptiste has a chop wound to his back through which his intestines were visible.
“All these, according to the doctor, are serious,” the prosecutor told the court, adding that Baptiste should be undergoing surgery this week.
The magistrate inquired about some injuries that the defendant had to his head and face and Delplesche told the court that the defendant and the virtual complainant are alleged to have been in an altercation previously.
The prosecutor told the court that the detective had obtained a doctor’s report, in case Stephenson was remanded.
He said that Stephenson had been hospitalised as a result of the injuries that aroused the magistrate’s concerns.
The court heard that Baptiste is alleged to have chopped Stephenson on Sept. 6, resulting in him spending seven days in hospital.
Stephenson reportedly attacked and chopped Baptiste about a week after the alleged attack on him (Stephenson).
The prosecutor told the court that Corporal Chambers said he had urged Stephenson to report to investigators the medical injury form he had been issued after the alleged Sept. 6 attack that left him nursing injuries to his head.
Delplesche said: “Chambers say, ‘Me beg um (him) like ah dog to bring back the medical forms he never bring them back.”
The prosecutor told the court that when the detective obtained the forms from Stephenson, they were incomplete, suggesting that he had never given them to a physician to complete.
The senior magistrate decided to remand Stephenson until Sept. 21, noting that the virtual complainant’s injuries are serious and potentially life-threatening.
She said that while the accused might have also suffered, he was before her in a different capacity — as an accused rather than as a virtual complainant.
The Police Force needs to stop this practice of giving complainants medical forms to bring back to them. The practice should be take the complainant to the hospital along with the medical and at a subsequent period retrieve the completed medical report from the hospital. Had this been done the cross complainant would have been in custody and the second aspect of debacle would have been avoided
you are correct with stopping the common practice of giving forms to complainants to take and bring back. I dont agree it would have prevented the reprisal action , maybe delaying it I can see. Once a persons mind is committing and determine to commit a crime its impossible to stop them .
Coming partly from the streets and can relate to “hard knock life” I always would give my advice to some of the youngins ……the ones that make it are not the toughest but those who are the smartest . its impossible to win all your battles .
I too thought this practice is ridiculous. Here in BVI we fill out the forms and take to the hospital. Police officers are who retrieve the form.
I agree with you on what the proper police procedures should be. But if you chop a man and he chop you back, you deserve it. So I have no sympathy for the hospitalized individual beyond hoping he does not die. But if you chop up a man and he chop you up back, take your chopping.
LOL!!!! @ “…Take your chopping.”
A module on anger management and conflict resolution should be introduced in all schools throughout Saint Vincent and the Grenadines if we are to reduce some of these violent crime. A lot of these violent crimes could be avoided of young people are thought how defuse and avoid conflict.
Many of these crimes are driven by idleness. When people have nothing do they drink alcohol. In the process previous conflict resonates, which fuel anger and hatred. Another challenge is gang feud relating to the battle for turf, recognition and identity.
The Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force should work to implement the US base Gang Resistance and Education Training ( GREAT) Program. Similar to the DARE the GREAT Program seeks to teach youths to resist violence and gang activity.
It is call laziness…the day a complainant falsify a medical report will be the day the police start collecting the medical report directly from the doctor…All them clerks/office attendants and drivers in the public service and you cant get an employee to collect all the forms and return them to the CID?
My left shoulder was almost chopped off by a ULP killer on the ground bleeding to death!
The hired killer send the Vermouth where to find me, three (3) Policemen came in a Police Transport where I laid dying.
They later returned and took me to Hospital.
ULP killer, they did nothing to him!
I remembered the police at Stubbs a couple of years ago gave a. Mr Erol Sutton a medical form to take to the clinic and on his way back to take the form to the police station he was shot in his head and died feet away from the police station.
Dunzy head police i conclude.
Mr Erol Sutton was shot in rhe head feet away from the Stubbs police while on his way to take back a medical form to the station. Dunzy head police.
We all know the police have a bias toward the ULP. We also know that they are in dire need of proper training. Also needed is to get rid of all the bad eggs.