The trial of Kester Thomas, accused of trying to set a house on fire, began on Monday, when he was pointed out by a witness as the person who threw a Molotov cocktail at the building.
Thomas, 25, was charged in September with unlawfully and maliciously wounding Dwain Caines with a cutlass, causing him actual bodily harm.
He was also accused of to setting fire to the dwelling home of Norma Wishart, Caines’ mother, by pelting it with glass bottles filled with gasoline. He had pleaded guilty to the assault charge.
When the trial began on Monday, the younger brother of Dwain Caines, Darryl Caines, 17, explained to the court that on the September 20, he was three yards away from where the chopping occurred.
He said that earlier in the day, he was playing table tennis with three other young men in his yard when Thomas entered.
Caines further stated that his brother, after seeing Thomas, asked him to borrow his lighter. He added that he was unable to see if the lighter was given at the time, due to him focusing on the game.
However, Caines said that Thomas warned his brother to not leave the yard with the lighter, which resulted in his brother throwing it to the ground and Thomas demanding that he pick it up. His brother refused, Caines said, adding that to avoid a confrontation between the two, he decided to pick up the lighter, which he handed to Thomas.
Afterward, Caines said Thomas asked his brother if they had a problem. His brother replied no and then began to walk away, at which point Thomas told him, “y’all does want bannas push ting in y’all belly.” As a result, he added, his brother took a piece of wood from the tennis table and swung it against Thomas, who fell to the ground, seemingly in pain.
After the incident, Caines said he went home to his mother and reported it to her. He added that a couple of minutes later, he heard bottles shattering outside their house. Upon investigating he discovered a bottle containing a pink substance and a piece of cloth attached to it on the front step.
Caines said that his mother then ran out of the house and headed towards Thomas, whom he identified as the person he saw throwing the bottles at the home, to inquire why he was trying to burn down the house.
According to him, Thomas replied to her, “yes, Muslim-style” and his brother, who heard him, then also ran to prevent him from causing further damage to the home.
Caines said that he proceeded to sweep the bottles off the stairs and looked up the road and saw Thomas and his brother fighting with cutlasses.
The trial is scheduled to continue today.
