A man accused of assaulting his wife after she refused to return to their home was remanded to prison when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry to answer to the charge yesterday.
The allegation is that on November 23 in Georgetown, Marvin Hutson unlawfully assaulted Tracy Hutson. The defendant admitted to the offence when the charge was read to him but after his explanation to the court, the magistrate entered a not guilty plea for him.
In giving the circumstances of the case, prosecutor Stephen Telford told the court that the two are married but the woman is in the process of obtaining a divorce because of physical and verbal abuse she has been suffering for sometime now, at the hands of her husband.
According to Telford, the virtual complainant had moved from the matrimonial home because of the abuse she suffered. This, he said, angered the accused. On the day of the incident, Telford said, the woman was on her way to work when she was approached by the defendant who desperately pleaded with her to return to their home; because she refused, the court heard that the defendant became angry and started to pull and tug at his wife as he demanded that she return to the home they once shared.
Telford noted that just two weeks ago, the defendant was brought before the court to answer an abusive language charge towards his wife and was fined $20 000 and placed on a bond to keep the peace. Having broken this bond, the prosecution requested that the man be remanded to prison.
When given a chance to respond, the accused said that at no time did he assault his wife.
According to him, he was going to work yesterday morning when he saw his wife, and out of excitement ran towards her and gave her a hug and a kiss. Up until this point, Hutson said, his wife had no problem with his presence. He said he then asked her to return to their home so that they can “talk over” the divorce and she replied in the positive. Moments later, he said that he offered to fetch her bag and as he was attempting to do so, a policeman on a mobile patrol approached him and demanded an explanation as to what was transpiring.
After explaining to him what the matter was, Marvin said, he was then ordered to the Brickdam Police Station where he was later arrested and charged for the offence.
It was at this point that the acting chief magistrate entered a not guilty plea on the man’s behalf. She then remanded him to prison until today.
