Lenroy Almond, accused of attempting to murder another man in a cutlass attack, was yesterday remanded to prison, after claiming he acted in self defence.
“Meh worship, I de only defending meh self; is three a dem bank me and beat me,” Almond, 24, said when he appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
It is alleged that on January 1, at Turtle Creek Backdam, Cuyuni River, Almond wounded Lloyd Noel, with intent to commit murder. Almond, a miner of 105 One Mile Wismar, Linden, was not required to plead to the indictable charge of attempted murder.
Prosecutor Stephen Telford said that Noel a dredge owner, intervened to make peace in a heated argument between Almond and another man. Almond, according to Telford, was armed with a cutlass at the time. He said an angry Almond turned to Noel and dealt him several chops about the body. Noel was subsequently taken to the Georgetown Hospital, where he was admitted a patient in a critical condition, while Almond was arrested and charged.
Almond, however, said he was defending himself when Noel was chopped. He told the court that three men approached him and began verbally abusing him, after which they attacked him and gave him a sound trashing for no reason. He said that after the trio attacked and started beating him, he managed to relieve Noel of the cutlass he was carrying at the time and used it to protect himself.
Almond noted that it was while he was protecting himself that Noel was chopped. He took off his shirt and pointed to several cuts and bruises, which he said he sustained at the hands of Noel and the two other men. He also made a request for a chance to seek medical attention for his eyes, which he said were injured during the fight.
The magistrate ordered the prosecutor to ensure that Almond be seen by a doctor. She, however, denied him bail, after Telford noted that Noel is still hospitalised in a critical condition. The case was transferred to the Bartica Magistrates’ Court for January 20.
