After being slapped by her partner, Judy Ross set his house on fire with him inside, a city court heard yesterday.
The couple appeared before Magistrate Ann McLennan to answer to charges of assault and arson. It was reported that on August 9th, miner Jermain McPherson unlawfully and maliciously assaulted Ross at Diamond sea dam, East Bank Demerara.
McPherson pleaded guilty to the assault charge.
Ross, 33, who is an employee of Quality Plus Fast Foods, was charged with unlawfully and maliciously setting fire to McPherson’s house, while the man was still inside, on the same night he assaulted her. Ross pleaded not guilty to the charge.
McPherson and Ross gave conflicting accounts of what occurred.
However, according to the prosecutor’s report, McPherson had placed Ross on a table and dealt her a slap to her face after she voiced her intentions of moving out.
Magistrate McLennan, after hearing the testimonies of both complainants, fined McPherson $5,000 for the assault charge with an alternative of a week in prison if he cannot pay it.
Ross, on the other hand, facing the far more serious charge, was placed on $100,000 bail and her matter was transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court, where it is to be heard on August 18th.
