Six weeks for spousal abuse

Raul Robinson was on Friday sentenced to six weeks imprisonment in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court by Magistrate Hazel Octave-Hamilton after he pleaded guilty to assaulting his reputed wife.

The court was told that Robinson on May 30, in Georgetown, unlawfully assaulted Samantha Younge. After pleading guilty to the charge, which he was told carried a custodial sentence, Robinson said that he wished to explain what had happened.

He said that he and Younge had an argument and he was calling her downstairs as his brother was tantalizing him by telling him things about his wife. He said that he was calling her to come and represent herself but she refused to come down. The two of them subsequently got into a heated argument which resulted in him slapping her. His brother, he said, came in and started to fight with him and she reported the matter  to the police.

Prosecutor Police Corporal Simone Payne in reading the particulars of the charge said the defendant and the virtual complainant have a common-law relationship, and on the day in question at about   6:45pm the defendant went home to their Hill Street, Albouystown residence and saw the VC asleep on their bed. He then pulled her off the bed and began to deal her several slaps about her face. He pushed her down and took a knife and dealt her several lashes about her body. Younge was rescued by the defendant’s brother and she then went to the East La Penitence Police Station where she made a report that resulted in the defendant being arrested and charged.

The magistrate asked Younge if this incident was a recurring one and she stated that this was the first time. The magistrate, however, told Robinson that with all the sensitization in the media about violence against women he should have known better. Robinson was also told that the sentence will serve as a wakeup call and it was only six weeks because his spouse has  stated that this was the first time he had ever hit her.