A Kitty woman was yesterday found guilty of wounding a former workmate with a beer bottle during a brawl at the popular Seeta’s Bar in Kitty.
Shauna Gonsalves was fined $100,000 with an alternative of 12 months in jail by city magistrate Judy Latchman at the conclusion of her trial.
Gonsalves was charged on September 16, 2015, with unlawfully and maliciously wounding Alana Duncan on August 19, 2015.
The court had been told that on the day in question both the defendant and Duncan were at Seeta’s Bar seated at separate tables. An argument, however, ensued between the women, which eventually led to Duncan pouncing on the victim and stabbing her several times with a beer bottle.
Attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat, who represented the defendant, stated that the medical which was presented during the trial did not support any evidence that Duncan was stabbed. He, however, added that his client did hit Duncan to her temple with a Banks beer bottle.
In delivering the verdict, Magistrate Latchman stated that the court does believe that Gonsalves did hit Duncan with a Banks beer bottle based on the evidence presented by Duncan and the fact that Gonsalves stated same in her testimony.
The magistrate also stated that Gonsalves was not acting in self-defence when she hit Duncan and noted the amount of force that was used resulted in blood flowing from Duncan’s wound and the beer bottle cracking.
As a result, the defendant was found guilty of unlawfully and maliciously wounding Duncan.
Fung-A-Fat told the court that the defendant has a two-year-old son and takes care of her 60-year-old grandmother and has a stable job.
Gonsalves apologised to Duncan, who was present, and offered to compensate her. However, Duncan was not interested in compensation, which led the court to impose the fine.
