By Tahna Weston
The jury that is hearing the case in which a young man is accused of attempting to murder a 29-year-old man, had the opportunity to visit three locations yesterday, including the area where the alleged offence occurred.
The accused, who was a teenager at the time of the incident, is alleged to have lured the victim to Dove Trail in Yeptons under the pretence of having a sexual encounter.
Based on evidence presented, the accused owed the victim $100 which he had promised to repay, but failed to do so, thus leading to the plans for the alleged intimate encounter.
The nine-member jury first visited a location in Hatton, in the vicinity of a Moravian church where the victim, based on his earlier testimony, had picked up the accused on the night of January 6, 2022.
While at the scene at Dove Trail, the victim was asked to point out where his vehicle was parked on the night in question, which he said was on the western (or left side of the road) facing north. He reaffirmed an earlier statement that the area was rocky, which he said still looked the same.
The man recounted kneeling in his car with the accused behind him. He said he and the young man fell to the ground after they became embroiled in a struggle when the accused began to inflict injuries to his body with a knife.
The victim said he managed to get hold of the knife at which time the accused ran off in a southerly direction. At this time, he noted that he returned to his vehicle and decided to drive himself to the hospital.
The jury made inquiries as to how soon after the attack he left the area and he responded “immediately”. The victim also confirmed to the jury that it was before he and the accused began to wrestle that the injuries were inflicted to his body and his neck was cut.
The police officer who took photographs of the scene was also recalled to point out the areas where he had observed blood. However, he was not sure of the exact areas where he had seen the blood but noted it was in the general area where the court had convened at the scene.
Based on evidence given by the victim — that while he was driving to the hospital he had pulled over in the vicinity of the former Ribbit nightclub at Perry Bay to get dressed and he passed out — a question was posed to the officer as to why no pictures had been taken of that location. He said that he was not instructed to do so by the investigating officer who, when asked about it, said he did not find it to be important at the time, since there was no blood there.
While being questioned at the scene, the investigator said that when he returned to the location after the incident, he found the accused’s cell phone and a slipper on the western side of the road.
While being cross-examined by defence attorney Michael Archibald, the officer was asked whether there were private residences in the area, to which he noted there were.
He was therefore asked if inquiries were made of people living in the area if they heard anything since the victim was yelling “murder, murder” and he said, “I don’t think so.” Asked why? He said, “I just didn’t.”
The last location visited by the jury was the former Ribbit nightclub where the victim said he had pulled over to the side of the road and was leaning on his car getting dressed when he collapsed.
The prosecution has closed its case while the defence is expected to present its case on Monday, February 10.
Justice Tunde Bakre is hearing the case.
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