Drug convict Dwayne King, who was wounded in the Camp Street Prison, testified in court yesterday that the accused Calvin Bailey had wanted to kill him “long”.
In the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, Bailey, stood charged with unlawfully and maliciously wounding King on November 6, in the prison. He was unrepresented. Bailey is in prison on a charge of murder.
King told the court that on the day of the attack, he and the defendant were in the new wing of the prison, when Bailey, who was armed with a knife, attacked him. The complainant said he was on his bed, when he noticed Bailey, who was arguing, leave his bed and walk to the door where he collected something from another inmate.
King said the accused started back towards his own bed, but suddenly diverted over to where he was lying. He said when he realized Bailey was approaching him, he jumped up but the man still stabbed him.
“He stabbed me to my chest here and then on my shoulder. And by I was trying to defend myself one catch me on my hand here,” King narrated, as he pointed towards the scars on his body.
According to King, while Bailey was stabbing him, he heard him say, ‘You know how long I wanted to kill you?’
The complainant said he was able to use his mattress as a barrier to prevent the accused from inflicting any further wounds with his knife. And while another inmate helped by trying to reason with Bailey, he escaped and ran towards the Prison Chief’s Office, situated in front of the prison’s compound. He was later rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Cross-examining King, Bailey questioned why he never told the police that he (Bailey) had uttered such words to him. King replied that he had done so.
Bailey however reverted to King’s statement, pointing out that in it King had told the police ‘he never said anything to me’. Moreover, Bailey questioned the description of the improvised weapon used in the attack. The defendant pointed out that in his statement, King said he was chopped with a chopper but in court he stated that it was a rusty knife, six inches in length. Meanwhile, in re-examination by Police Prosecutor Simone Payne, King told the court that it was a knife. However, the weapon was not admitted into evidence, since the court felt that not enough foundational evidence was built by the prosecution to show that there was a link between the knife and the accused. Moreover, the complainant never identified it as the knife used in the incident.
Also testifying was Detective Sergeant Gilbert Ross attached to the Alberttown Police Station, who visited the prison and uplifted the knife that was allegedly used in the attack. Ross also told the court that he had uplifted King’s medical report from the hospital.
Senior Prison Officer Abbie D’Cunha and Prison Officer Keshawn Williams also testified. The officers were later cross examined by Bailey.
The trial continues today.
