A man who admitted to assaulting a seven-year-old boy, during what he claimed was playing around, was on Wednesday ordered to pay $15,000 in compensation to the child’s family.
Colin Benn pleaded guilty to the charge that he assaulted the boy on January 13, at Croal and Cornhill streets, Georgetown.
Benn, in admitting his guilt, told a city court that he and the child had been playing around, which included calling each other names.
He said later on the child slapped him and then ran off to his family’s stall nearby. Benn added that he believed that they were still playing, as they usually did, and he walked over to the stall and tapped the boy behind his head. He added that it was the child’s family that later called his father and created a “situation.”
The boy’s father, who was present in court, stated that he was unware of any play activities that go on between his son and the accused. He then stated that he got a call from the child’s aunt, who told him that the child was just knuckled in the head by a minibus tout. He added that when he arrived at the scene, the police were there and he got into an argument with the accused and he subsequently took the man to the police station because he was justifying hitting the boy and not seeing the bigger picture. He added that it was while in the police station that Benn began to apologize.
