Jared Smith, 25, and his brother Thornston, 17, were remanded in custody after they appeared in Summary Court late Friday on charges that included causing grievous bodily harm to a police officer. The officer’s jaw was broken.
A second officer received scrapes and bruises.
Senior Crown Counsel Andre Mon Desir said charges against the brothers arose after an incident in the Palm Dale area of George Town shortly after 6pm on Monday, 27 August.
He said two officers in separate marked police cars attempted to stop a vehicle because of its heavily tinted glass. They cornered it and Jared exited.
The officers asked him for his licence and vehicle documentation. Jared allegedly replied with rude words that they weren’t getting anything from him until they got the police car off the lawn.
‘Things spiralled downward from there,’ Mr. Mon Desir told the court.
A female, Kayra Hydes, allegedly told officers they had no right to stop people and ask for papers. She allegedly used rude words to the officers, threw a coconut at one and kicked one.
Defence Attorney Nicholas Dixey said Thornston’s involvement started when he came around a corner and saw his brother ‘overpowered by officers.’
Mr. Dixey said Jared had been willing to show the documents as soon as the police car was moved and that was the start of what happened.
‘Pepper spray came out far too quickly and that triggered the disorder and caused the matter to escalate,’ he said. ‘It seems there was a gathering of other residents of the area who took the view that the way police were handling the arrest was not appropriate.’
He said knives and stones became involved only after the officers used pepper spray.
Mr. Dixey suggested it was unclear whether the injuries sustained were attributable to stones thrown by Jared.
He accepted there was an allegation that Jared was running around saying ‘I will kill one of you tonight.’
Mr. Mon Desir said the Crown considered assaults on police particularly reprehensible and viewed these offences as serious in the context in which they allegedly occurred.
The magistrate referred to the 2005 amendment to the Bail Law that says there is no entitlement as of right to bail in the case of serious charges such as grievous bodily harm.
Mr. Dixey asked for bail, saying conditions such as curfew could be imposed. The brothers, both of a Palm Dale address, were easy to find and not going anywhere.
But bail was denied on the basis of the nature and seriousness of the charges and the fact that both brothers were on bail for other matters when this incident occurred.
In addition to assault causing grievous bodily harm, both brothers are charged with causing actual bodily harm and carrying an offensive weapon. Jared is further charged with threatening violence.
Hydes, of a West Bay address, was charged with resisting arrest, assaulting police, obstructing police and disorderly conduct. Attorney Menelik Miller confirmed that her police bail had set with a surety of $2,000.
The matter was set for mention again on Tuesday, 4 September.
Mr. Mon Desir advised that one other person is expected to be charged.
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