A Prospect man was left with three knife wounds that took over 30 stitches to close after he was attacked by another resident of the village, who is said to be mentally ill.
Davidson Layne, 42, spoke to iWitness News from the Stubbs Polyclinic where he received medical attention after the attack around 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
He said he has been renting in the area for almost three years and would park his vehicle on a roadway to another resident’s property.
He said that whenever he parks there, the allegedly mentally ill man, whom he described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing about 240, would throw words at him.
Layne said that he went back to his car Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. to collect something.
After collecting the item, he was speaking with some friends, and while there, the man attacked him, stabbing him three times.
Layne received a cut to his right arm that took nine stitches. He received a stab wound to his back that took six stitches, while a similar injury to his shoulder took six stitches inside and 10 outside.
He told iWitness News that he does not know his assailant by name, adding that they have never interacted with each other.
“His reactions, his movements and everything, you can tell from his way and everything [that he has a mental health issue,” Layne told iWitness News, adding that the man’s family is also renting.
He said he has known the man to behave as if he had a mental health problem ever since he (Layne) moved into the area.
“And I made a complaint to his mom about it already that sometimes when he sees me, he is always harassing me, even when I make my grocery, he issues threatening words. I never took it for anything…”
Layne said that before the man stabbed him on Sunday, the man had told him that he was always parking in his (assailant’s yard).
Layne said this was not the case. “It is not his yard. He came down with a knife. I was not paying attention. Two of my friends tried to hold him back but he weighs about 240 pounds and he is between 25 to 30. He pulled away from them, he gave me a cut on my right hand and that is when I realised what was going on.”
Layne said that after being cut on the arm he tried to body his attacker to prevent further injury but the assailant stabbed him in his left shoulder and back.
The injured man told iWitness News that his attack is always involved in altercations with other people in the community.
Layne said the police visited him at the polyclinic and issued him with a report of injury form and advised him not to retaliate.
“You know sometimes when these things happen, the first thing that is running through someone’s mind is, ‘I am not leaving it like that.’ But sometimes when you do that and you take matters into your own hands, you end up and get charged,” Layne told iWitness News.
He said he would file a formal report with the police.
Layne said that the same man had attacked one of his (Layne’s) friends and when the friend went to make a complaint, the mentally ill man’s relatives said he was not at home and they did not know where he had gone.
Layne said he now understands what people who receive stab wounds go through.
“To be honest, it could have been worse because the knife that he had was not like a regular kitchen knife. Even the doctor was asking what kind of knife it was because of the way he stabbed and pulled, it damaged the muscle and everything in my arm.
“If it was somewhere else he had stabbed me, like in the stomach area, he could have punctured my lungs. And even when he stabbed me, he said it’s a long time he had me in mind and it’s a long time he had that for me.”
Layne said he only realised that the man had a knife when he received the first cut.
“He left his yard and came into another person’s yard and attacked me.”
Layne is a supervisor at a construction company and said that they are supposed to be pouring concrete at a commercial project over the next few days.
He said the injuries would cause him to be off the job and could affect that construction project.
It’s so scary also walking in Kingstown a place I am so afraid to go, I think that most of these people are sick due to drugs. I remember one saying to a man “ah go ram a knife in yo belly cause ah coke me ah tek”. it’s the tourist season and pray that these people are put off the streets before SVG being lifted higher and higher.
This mentally ill man may now be taken to the mental health centre for a short while, and the victim just left to carry on with his life and put the incident behind him.
There have been so many incidents with these insane people, some of whom walk the streets with knives, pieces of iron and in a few instances old cutlass. A mentally ill man in my area used to just turn over garbage bin and tear open garbage bags left along the road for garbage collection. Once he even tore my garbage bag in my presence after I told him to leave it alone.
There needs to be some kind of effective strategy or procedure if you will, for taking these people off the road; for their safety and that of the wider society.