Father pleads guilty to attacking teen

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:Resident Magistrate Carolyn Tie had harsh words for a St James man who admitted to slapping his daughter in the face when he was brought before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Thirty-five-year-old Roosevelt Martin, of a Montego Bay address, was remanded for sentencing at a later date after he pleaded guilty with explanation to assault occasioning actual bodily harm committed against his 15-year-old daughter.

The court was told that earlier this month, Martin accosted his daughter in Montego Bay while she was walking with friends and slapped her in the face.

ignoring him

But in his explanation, Martin told Tie that he only hit the child after she ignored him when he called to her.

"I saw her and two of her classmates walking on the street, and they walked past my van, so I walked down to her. She was walking away and fanning me off, so I pulled her back and slapped her two times," said Martin.

"You do not have to be extreme. Don't you think there was another way you could deal with your daughter?" asked Tie.

"I could have dealt with it better," Martin admitted.

But the teenager's mother, who was present in court, told the magistrate that Martin had hit the child during a previous altercation.

"One time before, last year, he beat her up on Barnett Street. I'm asking for a restraining order against him," the mother said.

Tie chastised Martin for his behaviour before ordering that he be placed in remand.

"The last time you saw her, you beat her up on the street. Doesn't something sound wrong with that, sir?" asked Tie. "What is going to happen is that she is going to end up hating you," the magistrate added.