$15K COMPENSATION FOR CHOPPING VICTIM

Kish Cochrane has paid $5,000 out of the $15,000 compensation order made by Justice Keith Thom who sentenced him yesterday for wounding Franklin Browne about two years ago in a confrontation at the East Bus Station.
Cochrane, who pleaded guilty to the offence, apologised for his actions and told the court he was ready to start paying the price for his moment of poor judgement on July 28, 2015 when he chopped Browne on the left hand in anger.
Cochrane, who was 32 at the time, has to pay another $5,000 by the end of August and the remaining $5,000 by the end of December. He was placed on probation for three years and if he breaches any of the terms, he will be jailed for one year.
The prosecution said that on the night of the incident the two men had an argument at Obsti’s Bar at the East Bus Station.
According to Browne, who was 59 years old when the offence occurred, he had been drinking alcoholic beverages at the bar for several hours and was intoxicated.
He said he saw Cochrane at the bar after 10 pm and they had an argument, during which Browne was chopped. The injury required over 100 stitches because it measured 16 cm X 10 cm X 5 cm.
Cochrane told the court he walked back to his car when the argument started and Browne followed him.
He said he took out the cutlass to scare him away and never intended to hurt him even though Browne had been very disrespectful and was in the habit of saying bad things about his (Cochrane’s) mother.
Prosecutor Shannon Jones-Gittens told the court that witnesses reported that Cochrane went to the car for the cutlass and when someone intervened the cutlass fell. Instead of walking away, he picked it up and went after Browne and tried to chop him twice.
He succeeded once and today, Browne remains unable to use the injured hand in the same manner he did before receiving the wound and he has to take pain medication daily.
Cochrane was represented by attorney Lawrence Daniels who pleaded for leniency for his client, noting that it was his first time before the court and he expressed remorse.