“This man pelt four lash in meh back with a cutlass. I still want know if is snake he been beating. So I pick up my cutlass and chop him.” Those were the words of a man who was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for wounding a man.
Thirty-two-year-old Marvin Britton pleaded guilty with explanation to the charge which stated that on October 17, at Grove, East Bank Demerara, he inflicted grievous bodily harm on Bill Norman.
The unrepresented man appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Courts.
Britton, in his explanation, stated, “Number one, this matter didn’t even concern him. Is me and another boy had a problem and he want come in like a bad man that’s how he get chop.”
He added, “I does also have my cutlass on me and the day when we start, he pelt me with three bricks and miss. After that we both picked up our cutlasses but like he didn’t able with me. He roll up so I start fuh reverse.”
Continuing, Britton said, “When he realize I was too much for him, he start rushing to me like he playing cricket so I turn around. When I turn around this man pelt four lash in meh back with a cutlass. I still want know if is a snake he been beating. So I pick up my cutlass and chop him.”
However, facts presented by Police Prosecutor Brian Sukhna stated that on the day in question, Britton and another young man had a misunderstanding and Norman, who was painting a house, came down from the roof to query what was happening.
However, the victim and the Britton got into an argument and Britton chopped him with a cutlass. The matter was then reported and following an investigation, Britton was arrested and charged for the offence.
The Chief Magistrate, after listening to both sides, sentenced Britton to nine months behind bars.
