Man shocked son with live wire -court told

A man who allegedly abused his 13-year-old son by deliberately shocking him with a live exposed wire was granted $15,000 bail when he appeared at the Wales Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Mark Chritchlow of Samaroo Dam, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara (WBD) pleaded guilty to a charge of ill treatment of a child but Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton entered a plea of not guilty for him after hearing his explanation.

It is alleged that last Monday at Samaroo Dam, WBD, he wilfully ill-treated the said boy in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injuries to his health.

Police Prosecutor Jacqueline Skinner told the court that on the said day the boy’s mother had sent him to the shop and upon his return “his father scrambled him and started to beat him without any cause”. She said that the boy’s mother intervened and the defendant became annoyed and he burst a wire that was connected to an electric point and used it to shock the child on the right foot. She said that the boy became unconscious. The matter was reported and Chritchlow was charged.

As she was speaking the defendant alternately laughed and shook his head and had to be warned to be quiet.

However, Chritchlow told a different story.

He said that he had told his son to get off the road because it was raining. He stated that he hit his son three times with a kite frame and declared “no ma’am, I didn’t shock he”. He said that the boy had hid under the bed and when he ran out he fell and was shocked.

The magistrate read the statements given by the boy and his mother and after hearing the explanation said that the matter would have to go to trial and changed Chritchlow’s plea to not guilty.

The prosecution did not object to bail being granted and the matter was transferred to the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court for next Monday. Neither the boy nor the mother was present in court yesterday.