A lodger of the East La Penitence Night Shelter will be taking up residence in the Camp Street jail for the next month after he was found guilty of assaulting a security guard.
Leon Daniels, 23, had pleaded not guilty when the assault charge was first read to him by Magistrate Geeta Chandan-Edmond in Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 10. According to Prosecutor Jomo Nichols, on January 29 Daniels had been smoking in the compound of the shelter when he was seen by Janice Haywood, a security guard attached to the sanctuary.
Haywood asked Daniels to leave and attempted to remove him from the compound. However, the defendant put up a fight, dealing the security guard several chucks before walking away. Haywood made a report to the East La Penitence Police Station and Daniels was subsequently arrested and charged for assaulting the woman. Despite pleading not guilty, Daniels incriminated himself by stating that he had indeed pushed Haywood in retaliation after she assaulted him. His statement, along with those given by Haywood and a police officer, sealed his fate yesterday.
According to Prosecutor Nichols, Daniels was deported from Antigua and Barbuda for overstaying his visit, among other offences.
