A man accused of gun-butting and placing a gun in the mouth of a woman with whom he shares a relationship was yesterday placed on $75,000 bail when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton.
The allegation against Stephen King, called ‘Steve’, of 64 Prashad Nagar is that on July 29 at Georgetown, he unlawfully assaulted Sasha Sandy so as to cause her actual bodily harm.
He is alleged on the same day to have used threatening behaviour to Sandy, resulting in a breach of the peace.
The 27-year-old realtor pleaded not guilty to both charges when they were read to him at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and said that the parties had dealt with their issues.
Attorney Gordon Gilhuys who represented the accused described the charges as “just a simple misunderstanding.”
He said that the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding between the parties at the Machel Montano Soca show which was held over the weekend.
According to Gilhuys the defendant was at the show speaking to the mother of his child when the virtual complainant (VC) saw them and became annoyed. He said too that the VC assaulted his client.
Gilhuys then made a bail application for his client.
Meanwhile, attorney Roger Yearwood who entered an appearance in the VC’s interest told the court that the charges should not be taken lightly.
He said that Sandy was slapped on a number of occasions. He said further that the charges before the court are of a serious nature as the defendant after gun-butting the VC, placed a gun in her mouth and threatened to kill her. “So this is nothing to be taken lightly,” Yearwood argued.
He also asked the court to take note of an injury which he said the complainant sustained to her eyes at the hands of the defendant.
After examining the medical certificate presented to the court, the magistrate said that the report substantiated the injuries Yearwood spoke of.
The prosecution in its address to the court refuted Gilhuys’ claim that his client was assaulted by the VC.
The prosecution said that King had given the police a caution statement and had made no mention of being assaulted by the VC.
It said too that investigators had conducted a search on the defendant’s home, but had found no weapon.
The prosecution, however, had no objections to the accused being granted bail but asked that the parties have nothing to do with each other.
The matter was transferred to Court Ten for September 17.
