A man was sentenced to nine months imprisonment yesterday for escaping from a policeman’s custody while being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
Michael Stanton, 33, admitted that on August 11, being in custody of Police Constable 2423 Akeem Lewis, at the GPH, pending an assault charge, he escaped.
Stanton, a mason, however, denied unlawfully assaulting Mavara Skeete on the same date at Sheriff Street.
Police prosecutor Deniro Jones told the court that Stanton and Skeete have been separated for the past two months and they only meet each other to converse about the well-being of their daughter.
He said that on August 11, Skeete was at OMG restaurant at Sheriff Street when Stanton came up to her, slapped her, dealt her several cuffs and twisted her left arm.
The matter was reported and he was arrested at the Prashad Nagar Outpost by Constable 2423 Lewis. Stanton, Jones said, subsequently ended up in a fight and he sustained injuries, for which Constable Lewis took him to the GPH to see a doctor. However, he used the opportunity to escape. He was chased by police, arrested and taken back to the Prashad Nagar Outpost.
But Stanton told the court that he did not touch Skeete. When asked why he did what he did, he stated that he was frustrated since he and his partner had problems.
Magistrate Ann McLennan subsequently sentenced Stanton to nine months imprisonment for escaping from the police and placed him on $5,000 bail for the assault charge.
