Describing as heinous the actions of a man who threw boiling water on his common-law wife, a San Fernando magistrate yesterday slapped him with the maximum sentence of 24 months and a $4,000 fine. "You deserve the full brunt of the law. We have to send a message that you cannot behave in that manner. You cannot do things like that to people," First Court Magistrate Alicia Chankar told Noel Techier. The 50-year-old former Unemployment Relief Programme worker claimed he acted in self-defence, but Chankar found him guilty.
He was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm on Christine Sylvestor, 55. The incident took place on August 4, 2008 at their home on Bayshore Road, Marabella. They had an argument and he threw a pot of boiling water on her. Sylvestor, in a tearful testimony, said the burns to her left side, including her breast, arm and leg, were so severe that bubbles began to form. Sylvestor testified that after work she bought dinner for both of them. However, she said while eating he asked her to go to the parlour and buy two cigarettes and a soft drink.
She left and bought the items for him. When she returned 15 minutes later he had also eaten her portion of the food. When she questioned him about it they had a quarrel and he threw the water on her.
Techier, who gave evidence yesterday, said he could not remember everything that happened because of an injury to his head. However, he claimed Sylvestor had attacked him first with a oil container and was armed with a knife. His attorney, Michelle Rampaul, asked the court to be lenient on him, given his health condition. The magistrate was unsympathetic, however, saying: "You know the pain she had to be in for her skin to bubble up," adding that Sylvestor had to spend 11 days in hospital. Based on the evidence, she said, it appeared he had a history of being abusive towards her.
