Man arrested, charged for hitting woman while on the phone

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Man arrested, charged for hitting woman while on the phone

A 34-year-old man was granted $10,000 bail when he appeared virtually before a Sangre Grande Magistrate on Monday to answer to assault charges against a woman.

Kendel Burkley, of Villafana Trace, San Louis Road, Guaico, pleaded not guilty to the charge of assault occasioning a wound.

Burkley was arrested and charged on Friday following an investigation surrounding a report of domestic abuse which allegedly occurred on the same day.

According to official reports, at 12:20 pm last Friday, officers of the Eastern Division Emergency Response Patrol (ERP) responded to a distress call of domestic violence at Villafana Trace, San Louis Road, Guaico, Sangre Grande.

When ERP officers arrived at the location, they met a 34-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, who reported to police that she had been assaulted by a man with whom she had a two-year visiting relationship.

The man was interviewed and arrested pending further investigations and the woman was taken to seek medical treatment at hospital.

The case was subsequently handed over to the Gender-Based Violence Unit (GBVU) who continued enquiries into the report.

During the investigation, officers discovered that while the woman was talking on a cellphone owned by the defendant, he approached her and enquired if she did not hear him calling her.

The woman told the defendant that she did not hear him and that she was talking on the phone and she stepped aside as the defendant began quarrelling.

The defendant then again allegedly approached the victim and enquired if she did not hear him calling her and this time she showed the defendant the cellphone, indicating to him that she was still talking on the phone.

The defendant reportedly became angry and allegedly dealt the victim several blows about her face with his hands.

She managed to run away to the home of one of the neighbors for safety and the police was contacted.

She was taken for medical treatment and is being offered counselling services by the Victim and Witness Support Unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

In addition to his bail, he was also ordered not to have any contact with the woman pending the determination of the matter which was postponed to November 19th, 2020.

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