Man on four charges denied bail

When he returns to court four weeks from now, Martin Joseph Antonio Massiah will know whether he will continue on remand.

The 26-year-old, of Bournes Land, Christ Church, was in the District “A” Traffic Court yesterday on four indictable charges, for which he was not required to plead before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes.

Massiah is charged with entering the building known as Ri’s Royal Beauty Bar as a trespasser, with intent to inflict grevious bodily harm on Ria Johnson, while having a knife. His other charges are that he damaged an air-conditioning unit belonging to Johnson, that he unlawfully and maliciously wounded her, and that he drove a vehicle in a wanton manner, thereby causing bodily harm to Shannon Phillips. All the offences allegedly took place on September 30.

In objecting to bail, Constable Ralph Rollock said the accused knew the complainant and his concern was that he may interfere with witnesses if granted bail. Massiah’s release, said Rollock, “may not be in the best interest of the public” and “entering a person’s building and inflicting harm on them is a serious offence”.

“The accused man used every effort to harm this individual; it is clear,” the prosecutor told the court, adding the incident took place “just two days ago”.

Objecting

Rollock reiterated that he was objecting on the grounds of “the seriousness and the nature of” the incident that included “leaving where he was to enter where that person was, and then harming other people in the process”.

He concluded by saying that the prosecution “objects vehemently” to bail for accused Massiah.

Responding, attorney Damien Sands sought “to provide context to the court”.

He submitted that it was not as though the charges were on separate occasions, but all “were stemming out of one matter”.

Sands added that the complainant was his client’s girlfriend, and without going too far into the case, the accused man “sleeps there”.

He therefore took issue with the prosecutor’s view that Massiah “entered the house as a trespasser”.

Regarding the level of the allegations, Sands said that although all offences were serious, he deemed Massiah’s charges to be at “the medium end of the scale”. He stressed that the prosecutor had no basis – “no history or any type of propensity” – on which to suggest that Massiah would either influence or intimidate witnesses.

He said his client was working and studying, and was not an individual “aimlessly doing nothing with his life”.

Sands suggested strict bail conditions and a high bail amount, “if needs be”.

Domestic situations

The lawyer also expressed concern that Massiah might lose his job if he were to be remanded. The magistrate then stated that it ought not to happen, since based on “settled law” accused persons should be allowed to continue to work, once the employer is informed of their remand status.

Chief Magistrate Weekes went on to say that “in these domestic situations” strict bail conditions do not always keep accused persons “under control”.

In Massiah’s case, bail was denied.

The accused returns to court on October 30. (SD)

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