A security guard on an unlawful wounding charge yesterday told a court that he was the real victim.
Joel Small, 33, of 3350 Canal Place, South Ruimveldt Park, was charged with unlawfully wounding Nigel Dodson when he appeared before acting chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
It is alleged that on September 18, in Georgetown, Small assaulted Dodson, causing several wounds about his body.
But Small told the court that Dodson had been threatening to kill him for some time. He claimed Dodson said “he gon murder me under premeditation,” which led him to make several reports to the police.
According to Small, on the day of the incident he was riding his bicycle to work when Dodson approached with two cutlasses. He said Dodson began threatening him with the weapons, forcing him off the bike. He said he started begging for his life, but Dodson cornered him against a fence and attempted to chop him. To defend himself, Small said he held Dodson by his neck and hit his head several times into the fence before throwing him into a gutter. Small said he then picked up the cutlasses and took them to the police station where he made a report.
But Dodson, who was also present in Court, refuted the story. He told the court Small was a “well known thief a round de area” and that he had once broken into his house. He admitted to having two cutlasses in his possession on the day of the incident but he explained that he had collected them earlier in the morning from a friend whom he had asked to sharpen them. He was planning on weeding his yard that day.
Dodson said when he saw small he repeated a warning to him about going to his house, which led to an argument. They both held each other by the neck, he said, but Small broke loose, bit him on the abdomen, took one of the cutlasses and dealt him several chops around the body before throwing him in the gutter.
The magistrate listened to both stories and remanded Small until September 30, when the case will be heard in Court Two.
