Three women including a manager at Household Plus appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday following a brawl at the Regent Street store last week which was reportedly triggered by a dispute over rugs.

Manager of the store, Denise Hamid, 39, of Atlantic Gardens, pleaded not guilty to the charge of unlawful wounding and was released on self-bail. Linda Bailey of South Road, Bourda and Gloria Massiah, 52, of D’Urban Street were also charged with unlawful wounding and both women entered not guilty pleas. The magistrate subsequently released Bailey and Massiah on $20,000 bail each.

The court heard that Troy Lowe, Hamid’s brother, was injured during the fracas and was unable to attend court. He was reportedly stabbed in the chest, but the details of his injury and how it occurred were not related in court. He is expected to attend court for the next hearing. Hamid, who was represented by attorney-at-law Rexford Jackson, remained silent in court while her attorney recounted how Bailey had made a purchase in the store and later resorted to behaving disorderly.

According to the lawyer, this led to the fracas and he said that both his client and her brother sustained injuries.

But Bailey told the court a different story, which was later accepted by the prosecutor as the facts of the case. Hamid’s attorney challenged the story and questioned whether the prosecutor was in a position to dispute that his clients were injured.

However, Bailey related that she had gone to the store and purchased two rugs on

December 28, 2009. She paid for the rugs and went to uplift them at the back of the store.

The woman said Hamid was aggressive when she produced her bill. She said Hamid questioned whether she had indeed made the purchase though she was in possession of the bill for $5,000. Bailey said she was in the store for quite some time and decided to pick up her rugs and leave given that they were paid for.

She said Hamid struck her in the face while she was reaching for the rugs and a struggle broke out. Massiah then intervened and according to her, Hamid’s brother also joined in.

“I was kicked up about my body and in my face, I even lost my dentures in the store,” Massiah said. She had some difficulty recounting her story because she was without her dentures.

Jackson later told the court that Bailey used her connections as a manager      at Federal Management Systems security firm and had a unit of security personnel descend on Household Plus following the incident. Bailey did not respond to the accusation.

The matter comes up for hearing again on Thursday.