(Trinidad Express) A 14-year-old boy appeared in court yesterday charged with the attempted murder of his stepfather.
It is alleged that last Friday, the boy wounded the 40-year-old man, with intent to murder him.
The man was chopped on the neck with a cutlass.
When the boy’s defence attorney, Lisa Singh, applied for bail, the magistrate raised a concern with a tattoo on the boy’s face.
Asked about the tattoo of a teardrop under his right eye, the boy said it was in memory of his father who had passed away.
But Magistrate Indar Jagroo said he was “streetwise” and knew such a tattoo had another meaning.
After consulting with the boy, Singh said it depended on the eye under which the teardrop was placed that different explanations could be given.
The boy also had a tattoo on his hand.
Singh told the court the teenager had a clean record as he had no previous or pending matters before the court.
She also said he no longer attended school and was working with his stepbrother at a mechanic’s shop.
“He said he prefers to work with his brother. He (the teenager) is not academically inclined,” the attorney said.
She said the same stepbrother was willing to have the boy live with him should he be granted bail.
The boy would need to change his address as he was living with his mother and her husband prior to the alleged attack, Singh said.
The alleged wounding, Singh claimed, occurred during a domestic dispute as the boy tried to defend his mother.
Police prosecutor Ramdeo Sookdeo presented a medical certificate of the man’s injuries and said he was still a patient at hospital.
This was disputed by Singh, who said the man had been discharged.
Sookdeo made no objection to bail, and Jagroo placed the boy on TT$75,000 bail.
If he is unable to make bail, the boy will be remanded to St Michael’s Home for Boys.
The case was adjourned to September 4.
