A man who threatened to physically harm his wife at her workplace because she did not call to wish him happy Father’s Day was yesterday bonded to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for one year.
Steve Lawrence Whyte admitted that on June 17 at Georgetown he made use of threatening language to Rene Newton-Whyte, resulting in a breach of the peace.
When given a chance to answer to the charge, Whyte said that he wanted to plead guilty with an explanation. He explained to the court that the reason he made the threat to his wife who no longer wants a relationship with him was because she did not call to wish him a happy Father’s Day.
The prosecution’s facts which were not disputed by the defendant are that on the day in question, Whyte cursed and threatened his wife at her workplace and he also said insulting things about her to her workmates.
When given a chance to speak, the virtual complainant said that she is in the process of seeking a divorce. She said that she had spoken to her husband on several occasions about turning his life around but all her efforts proved futile.
When asked by the magistrate if they have children together, the defendant who stood in the docks wearing a sorrowful look on his face explained that they had a son who is now dead. According to him, he was going through a difficult time in his life when he sent the text message to his wife containing the threat.
He blamed his actions on the fact that he had recently lost his brother and a close friend to violence.
In his explanation, Whyte said that he hoped on Father’s Day he would have gotten a call from his wife expressing greetings and for her to enquire how he was doing. After not receiving any such call from the woman, he said he then decided to call her later that evening but she was extremely brief with him, after which she hung up the phone.
The court was further told by Whyte that he then sent a text message to his wife which contained the threats. Though Whyte accepted the charge leveled against him, he contended that the threat was taken “out of context”, adding that his recent losses could have “affected my mannerism”, as he did not get to sit and “connect with his wife.”
In addressing the court, the prosecution said that the complainant, after receiving the threat, became afraid as she knows that the defendant is likely to carry out his threat, and so she made a report to the East La Penitence Police Station. An investigation was launched which subsequently led to Whyte being arrested and charged.
At this point Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton enquired if the two were attending any counselling sessions. They both responded in the affirmative, but the court further heard that the sessions had produced no fruitful outcomes.
The magistrate, after being firmly told by the complainant that she no longer wanted to have a relationship with her husband, told the defendant that it would be best for him to peacefully leave the woman alone as she no longer wanted anything to do with him.
She further explained to him that in addition to the fact that his wife no longer wants him, she no longer lives with him and so he cannot exert that type of control on her.
The magistrate concluded by telling the defendant that he is being given another chance and that there are lots of other prospects for him to seek.
After hearing the case, she gave the defendant a stern warning not to have anything to do with the complainant and firmly told both of them to ensure that they do not have to appear before the court again, and they both concurred.
