'Pacroman' gets 9 months' jail

AN Argyle, Tobago, labourer has been ordered to pay $40,000 in compensation to the man he pushed 18 feet off a precipice in 2011.

John “Pacroman” Alleyne will also spend nine months in jail for his assault on part-time boat mechanic Clifford “Longtail” Alexander on December 1, 2011.

Alleyne was sentenced yesterday by Justice Lisa Ramsumar-Hinds in the Tobago High Court. He was was convicted on Thursday, in the first fast-track trial in Tobago. After falling off the precipice and hitting a curb wall, Alexander, of Hermitage, lost several of his teeth and had to be flown to Trinidad for medical treatment. The left side of his face, from his eye to his lip, was damaged. His lip was also split and there was a flap of skin hanging, according to a medical report. His face had to be stitched up.

In his defence, Alleyne claimed he was defending himself from an attack by Alexander. He said Alexander choked him and while they were wrestling, he just fell over.

Alleyne was represented by attorney Kern Edwards while Nigel Pilgrim prosecuted.