By Ayanna Blair
A 32-year-old man was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court for allegedly being involved in the stabbing incident on Friday at a football game at Tucville playfield which resulted in two men being hospitalized.
Garfield Tyrell of Kitty was not required to enter a plea to two indictable charges of unlawful wounding when Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson read them to him.
It is alleged that on October 23, at Tucville, Tyrell unlawfully and maliciously wounded Hubert Gordon and Ethan Cordis.
However, Tyrell’s lawyer Mark Waldron stated that the incident was a clear case of self-defence on his client’s part.
The lawyer stated that the incident took place at a footfall game, the NAMILCO Football Festival, where the Pele versus Riddim Squad football match was being played.
He stated that “my client is an avid Pele supporter” and was just “vocally and passionately voicing his support for the team at the game.”
He went on to say that Cordis, Gordon and several other Riddim Squad supporters may have been offended by this and started to throw drink bottles towards Tyrell.
He said that since the bottles were being thrown at his client from behind him, Tyrell did not see who were the persons doing the pelting so instead of causing a commotion he moved from that area.
Waldron further stated that although his client had removed from the area and was standing at another spot, he was still openly voicing his support for the Pele team. The lawyer added that several persons including Gordon and Cordis followed his client to the spot where he was standing and started to beat him.
He noted that as a result of the beating his client lost a tooth and sustained injuries to his jaw resulting in him receiving stitches for it and he also sustained injuries to his left hand.
“My Worship this is not law but it is commonsense, two against one is not a fight, it is a banking all over the world and if they got (Cordis and Gordon) the worse of the injuries they looked for it,” stated Waldron.
He posited that his client was the victim in the incident.
Waldron then applied for reasonable bail for his client on the grounds that he has been in police custody since Friday.
However, Prosecutor Kevin London refuted the statements made by the defence attorney.
He said that the incident occurred while the football match was being played. He said that Tyrell became annoyed when Riddim Squad scored a goal and he started voicing his displeasure.
He said too that Tyrell then went away but returned shortly after with a knife that he used to “fire several juks at some of the Riddim Squad supporters.”
London said that Cordis was stabbed and a medical certificate obtained from the hospital stated that the injuries he had sustained were life threatening.
London also stated that after this Gordon began to run for his life but was cornered by Tyrell who also stabbed him with the knife.
The prosecutor objected to Tyrell’s bail application on the grounds that both Cordis and Gordon are currently hospitalized.
Waldron then interjected stating, “it seems to defy logic that he (Tyrell) would run into a crowd of supporters and attack them……the reverse happened, they attacked my client for supporting his team.”
Prosecutor London then told the court that even if this was so Tyrell never made a report to the police station.
Tyrell is scheduled to make another court appearance on November 3.
As a result of the ruckus on Friday the Guyana Footfall Federation has suspended the NAMILCO Football Festival.