A 30-year-old construction worker who beat his common-law wife after finding a video of her and another man on her phone was spared immediate prison time, despite the pleas of the prosecutor.
Acting Sergeant of Police Corlene Samuel argued at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court that the man, Nerris Lewis, who said he lives and works in Bequia, should be jailed to show the seriousness of the crime and to act as a deterrent to others.
She said some men think they should hit women if something goes “wrong” in a relationship.
“Too much is happening in our society and it needs to stop,” Samuel said.
She suggested a jail term that is more than “just a slap on the wrist or a walk”, but noted that the magistrate had the final say.
Lewis was arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on a charge of assault occasioning bodily harm at Langley Park, Georgetown.
Samuel said the virtual complainant and Lewis were in a 15-year common-law relationship that produced three children.
On May 17, the VC was braiding her daughter’s hair when Lewis approached her with a video of the VC and another male.
Lewis took the VC’s phone into the bedroom, searched it and saw “different contacts’ information”.
Lewis became upset and started arguing with the VC.
The VC told Lewis that she and the people in her contacts were just friends.
Lewis followed her outside and began to slap and beat the VC with his hands.
A medical report said the VC sustained several abrasions. However, the magistrate said they were “not severe”.
As the magistrate was considering her sentence, Lewis informed the court that he wasn’t feeling well as he “had not eaten since yesterday”.
He refused a mint from a court orderly, saying, “Gas already full me up.”
The magistrate ordered Lewis to pay compensation of EC$800 by June 13 or spend four months in prison.
Additionally, he was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for a year.
After handing down the sentence, the magistrate told Lewis to keep away from trouble.
“I will stay in Bequia and keep far from family. They don’t care about me,” Lewis responded, adding, “Only my father showed up for me”.
The magistrate told Lewis that maybe it was not that his family did not care but that they did not condone his actions.
PC573 Young was the investigator.
I want to make clear that I fully support the Acting Sergeant’s suggestion that the magistrate take the opportunity to hand down a sentence consequential enough to “show the seriousness of the crime and to act as a deterrent to others.” How disappointing that she placed such a paltry price on a woman’s dignity! I’m left wondering just how severe the injuries must be before the justice system does better. The magistrate in this case is not named here but whoever she is, I wonder how she can live with herself having so badly betrayed this particular victim and the women and girls of SVG as a whole.
He should have been taught a lesson
Next time might be a gun or cutlass
Let him go try that with one of those Bequia women
Well, if you went through your wife’s phone and found a video of her with another man doing it, how would you feel? This acting sergeant is acting very wrong, as if he were a machine with an on/off switch? Well, what is this? This sergeant must be one of those other people? You got to have a lot of nerve to call for the man to be denied bail as an example to other men. Oh Gaad wat a ting, ohyo, no boy elo.
Amm..15 years common law relationship? And this fool is 30 years old? How old is this jezebel?
Wey wrong wid this prosecutor, all kinda shootin and wutlessness happenin in vincyland, she wants to lock up this man fuh a couple slaps..smh.
Partner leave this woman alone, mind your kinds and go in peace.