A mother of two was yesterday denied bail on two charges of cruelty against her ten-year-old daughter. Gabrielle Emptage, 26, an electrician of Cross Crossing,?San Fernando, appeared before San?Fernando Sixth?Court Magistrate Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds. It is alleged that on two occasions the mother beat her daughter, resulting in bruises on her neck, face and arm.
Emptage was arrested after a staff member at the child's school noticed bruises on the Standard Two pupil and made a report. Both incidents allegedly took place at Coconut Drive,?San?Fernando, where Emptage lives with her children. The child was allegedly beaten on?October 12 and 14. The charges, laid by?WPC?Rajukumar, state, "You being a person over the age of 18 and having care of (name called), wilfully assaulted her in a manner causing unnecessary suffering and injury to the child."
When the first charge was read to her, Emptage said, "Guilty with a cause." The magistrate told her to think about it for a moment and read the other charge. Realising that Emptage was having difficulty in deciding, the magistrate entered not-guilty pleas and asked attorney Giselle Landeau to assist the accused mother.
After speaking with?Emptage, Landeau said the woman was the mother of the victim and an eight-year-old girl. She said Emptage had no previous convictions, but was involved in a custody matter over the children.
Prosecutor Sgt Gordon Maharaj objected to bail, saying he wanted to have a fingerprint trace done on?Emptage.
He said she had served community service for an offence and lived on the same compound as the victim and the child's grandmother. Emptage then admitted that she had previously been charged with "larceny shoplifting."
Told she would be remanded into custody at the Women's Prison until Monday, Emptage became teary-eyed.
Afterwards the police allowed the victim and her sister, who were in court with their grandmother, to see their mother before she was taken to the prison.
