A man accused of breaching a protective order barring him from contacting a former partner was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison yesterday after being denied bail in the St John’s Magistrate’s Court.
The court heard he went to the woman’s home in Table Hill Gordon, near Liberta, last week and allegedly destroyed items on the property, to include a water pump and pipes, valued at over $1,000.
The police were called to the scene and the man was taken to the Liberta Police Station where he was charged with malicious damage, trespassing and use of threatening language.
He appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Dexter Wason on Monday without legal representation as he was apparently unsuccessful in contacting his lawyer.
The defendant pleaded guilty to trespassing, but pleaded not guilty to the two other charges.
Magistrate Wason questioned whether there was evidence to support the charge of malicious damage.
While the prosecution said that the woman witnessed her former partner committing the alleged offence, the defendant argued that the area where the items in question were located would not have been visible to her.
It was revealed in court that the defendant was aware of the protective order granted in February 2021 in favour of the complainant. It was also disclosed that he previously spent a year in prison for similar offences in relation to the same woman, to which he eventually pleaded guilty.
He was repeatedly asked why he went to the woman’s residence, and the man was adamant that she had communicated with him and that he had phone records to prove it.
However, Magistrate Wason said there was no justification for his actions and refused to grant him bail.
The matter was previously transferred from the All Saints Magistrate’s Court to the St John’s Magistrate’s Court. The case was adjourned yesterday and will resume in the All Saints Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel-Edwards on June 22.
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