Fines for one attacker, jailfor another

THE EDITOR: Some six years ago I was viciously attacked by a violent young man with a cutlass outside Brooklyn Bar in Woodbrook.

As a result, I suffered both physical and mental trauma that has remained with me ever since.

The matter went to court, only because of my insistence and because of lobbying by Gillian Lucky, who was head of the Police Complaints Authority at the time.

Many readers aware of the matter and that my attacker is a close relative of a then very influential government minister.

The matter took 13 hearings over a period of 27 months before my attacker finally pleaded guilty, and was fined $1,500 for assault with a deadly weapon; $500 for possession of the weapon; $200 for use of obscene language.

Compare that to the ex-Petrotrin worker who was recently sentenced to 12 months hard labour for assaulting a police officer, four months for assaulting a bartender and six months for resisting arrest, for a total of 22 months or nearly two years in jail. Also, the full court matter was completed within two weeks of the incident.

Now, I have no problem with the above sentences, as I abhor violence in all its forms. But surely, we need to ask: why was my attacker treated with such leniency, compared to the stern approach taken in the sentencing of the ex-Petrotrin worker?

GREGORY WIGHT, Maraval