Man jailed for 9 months over assault

After being found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm on another man, a 26-year-old man was yesterday jailed for 9 months by Magistrate Sunil Scarce.

On his first appearance in court, Shamnarine Ramnanan was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on Vijai Singh and was placed on $100,000 bail.               The charge was an indictable one but after Administration of Justice Act was applied, the man pleaded not guilty to the offence.

According to the police facts, on December 23, 2013 at around 9.30 pm Singh was walking on the road in front of Xenon Night Club, when Ramnanan walked towards him and dealt him a cuff to his right eye.

Shamnarine Ramnanan
Shamnarine Ramnanan

Singh fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He was picked up and taken to the hospital. At the time when the incident occurred, Singh was reportedly sharing a relationship with Ramnanan’s wife.

A report was later made to the police and checks were made for Ramnanan but he was not found. The man was arrested on January 6 of this year and taken to court.Attorney Latchmie Dindyal represented Ramnanan throughout the hearing of the matter. Yesterday in court, Dindyal asked for a fine and a bond to keep the peace to be imposed on his client since according to him Ramnanan is gainfully employed with his father and is a first time offender.

The magistrate pointed out that the offence carries a maximum of 5 years in prison and that a bond and fine were not enough punishment. Ramnanan was subsequently sentenced to 9 months in prison.