A 47-year-old mother is now on remand at Dodds Prison after being charged with causing serious bodily harm to her teen daughters, while their father, accused of neglecting them, has been placed on $10 000 bail.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes, the accused woman was not required to plead to two indictable charges that on November 16, she committed serious bodily harm to her children with intent to maim, disfigure or disable them or to do some serious bodily harm to them.
Vociferously objecting to her bail, Sergeant Randolph Boyce said, “She is not here for one but two indictable matters. The two children are still at the QEH (Queen Elizabeth Hospital). I want the court to understand the seriousness of these charges. One had surgery . . . . This is extremely grave.”
Noting that the Child Care Board (CCB) was now involved in the matter and the significant public outcry that occurs in actions against children, the court prosecutor said that the mother was not a fit candidate for bail as she had been in a position of trust with the responsibility to look after the welfare of her children; she could potentially intimidate witnesses; and she could flee the country “and then we can’t find her”.
Making an application for bail, defence attorney Corey Beckles said, “We don’t know the circumstances of the surgery, [whether] there are major surgeries or minor surgeries”.
Admitting that all matters involving children are serious, he told the court that the CCB had no record of complaints against the mother or that she was a bad parent.
“This is not a situation where there are past incidents of any violence of any kind,” Beckles said, adding that the woman had no previous convictions, was employed and was financially responsible for another child.
The defence attorney also stated that the CCB had the power to prevent any intimidation being used against children and to remove minors from any environment where violence was likely to occur.
Chief Magistrate Weekes agreed with the prosecutor and remanded the mother into custody until December 20.
“The court cannot just wish away the fact that you have a mother charged with serious bodily harm, not with other persons, but the ones that she brought into this world. It has to be of a major concern to the court that these kinds of allegations have been brought in relation to a mother and her children,” Weekes stated.
Meanwhile, the 55-year-old father pleaded guilty to two charges – that being a person in care of a child under the age of 16, he willfully neglected the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering to her health between November 16 and 19.
Outlining the facts, Boyce said the mother had called the father, who did not reside with them, to her residence as the children were annoyed she refused to permit them to go to a guest house with friends. As he began to speak to them about their behaviour, a physical altercation broke out, during which the children were injured.
Rather than take the girls to receive medical attention, he instead opted to use home remedies like cod liver oil and ice packs.
Police received information about the children, and along with the CCB carried out an investigation. As a result, the teenagers were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Beckles requested a pre-sentencing report on the father.
Granting bail of $10 000 with surety, the chief magistrate warned the father to stay away from the complainants, including via social media, unless the CCB supervised it.
The matter was adjourned until April 8, 2025.
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