Kester Thomas, 25, is now awaiting sentencing after he admitted yesterday to chopping a man and setting fire to his house after he assaulted him.
Thomas, 25, of North Ruimveldt, told Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry that he assaulted Dwain Caines, causing him actual bodily harm, during a ”chop out”.
He also pleaded guilty to setting fire to the home of Norma Wishart, Caines’ mother.
Caines was charged with commonly assaulting Thomas when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, and although he initially pleaded guilty, a not-guilty plea was recorded on his behalf after he provided his account of the episode to the court. He was released on self-bail.
The incidents occurred on September 20, in Georgetown, after Thomas and Caines had an argument.
Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield said Caines dealt a lash to Thomas using a piece of wood. Later, Mansfield added, Thomas went to Caines’ home and started to hurl Molotov cocktails at it, resulting in a fire.
As a result, Caines armed himself with a cutlass and ran towards Thomas to confront him.
However, he fell and Thomas stood over him and chopped him about his body, including his face, neck, and upper chest.
Caines, who had visible stitches and injuries about his body, told the court he hit Thomas as he was attempting to carry out an attack on him. Thomas, he said, approached him on a bicycle with a machete and as a result he then picked up a piece of wood that was nearby and dealt him lashes to his left arm and right leg.
Afterward, Caines said, he went to his mother’s home at Lamaha Springs, which Thomas later pelted with bottles filled with gasoline. He added that he picked up a cutlass and headed towards Thomas, who was also armed with a cutlass in his hand, but he fell and Thomas came over him and wounded him.
When given the opportunity to speak, Thomas explained that Caines’ first assault on him was unprovoked. However, he admitted that as a result of it, he bought $500 worth of gasoline and filled bottles with it, which he later used to throw at Caines’ mother’s home at Lamaha Springs.
Thomas told the court that after pelting the first bottle, nothing happened, and he threw the other bottle and it landed on the stairs and a fire started to burn.
Caines then came out of the house and they both started to “chop out” and he saw blood and then ran away, he added.
The magistrate, after hearing the matter, adjourned the case to September 28 to allow a probation report, after which a sentence would be imposed.
