"Ladies or not, you ought not to be out at that hour in a place like Marabella," Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington said as he passed sentence on four women for an early morning bar bawl in Marabella. Aisha Holder, Tanika Sandiford, 18, Janelle Richards, 17, and Geneva Mattas, 26, a mother of three, were ordered to pay fines and compensation totalling $23,020. The four, who had been in custody since the December incident, pleaded guilty when they re-appeared before Wellington in the San Fernando First Magistrates' Court.
The incident took place around 4.55 am on December 15, at Cudjoe's Bar, Southern Main Road, Marabella. Each was charged with malicious damage, resulting in $9,100 in damage. Mattas had an additional charge of malicious wounding, for stabbing Kern Gonzales, and Holder was also charged with disorderly conduct and using obscene language at the Marabella Police Station. Their attorneys, Ainsley Lucky and Michelle Rampaul, told the court the incident stemmed from a dispute which escalated into violence. Lucky said the dispute caused the women to become fearful, so they reacted.
Rampaul said other people were involved in the brawl, with bottles pelting back and forth. She said Mattas was defending herself after a man accosted her, making lewd comments and touching her inappropriately. She said the women were extremely sorry and upset and have promised to "keep their noses clean." Wellington noted that Marabella was not the safest place to be and there were some places that one should not be. "Don't they live anywhere? What are they doing in places like that in Marabella at 5.10 in the morning?" the magistrate questioned.
He added that at age 54 at that hour he would be asleep in his bed. On the malicious damage charge, the women were each fined $3,000 or six months in prison with hard labour. They were ordered to immediately pay $1,980 in compensation. Mattas was fined an additional $3,000 on the malicious wounding charge. Holder, who hugged Lucky after hearing her sentence, was fined $100 for obscene language and reprimanded and discharged on the disorderly conduct charge.