A Moruga farmer who went to court with his two front teeth tucked in his pants pocket seeking justice left disappointed after he found out that his accused attacker had been freed five months ago.
“My teeth in my pocket,” protested Neville Bruce after being told by Senior Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle in the Princes Town Magistrates Court that the matter had been thrown out.
Bruce, 68, kept his two incisors after the February 7, 2015 incident in which he was beaten with a garden hoe. He suffered a broken ankle and cuts to his head and eye.
Bruce admitted that he mixed up his court dates, but he was told that the matter was adjourned to yesterday. The magistrate who was not the presiding magistrate when the case was called last year said the records showed that the matter was last called on July 5, 2016.
She said the records showed that neither the complainant PC Samaroo nor Bruce was in court. The matter was stood down, recalled at 10.19 am and subsequently dismissed.
“I have all my documents about my injury. I loose my teeth. My teeth in my pocket. All my evidence,” he said to the surprise of the magistrate who asked him if he really had his teeth in his pants pocket. He said he could not locate the police complainant. Bruce said he went to the Moruga Police Station and the sergeant told him the officer was on injury leave because he was beaten by a prisoner.
The magistrate told him she could not do anything as the matter had already been dismissed. However, she told him he had three choices, either bring it to the attention of Director of Public Prosecutions or retain the services of an attorney or file a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority.
Speaking outside the court, a disappointed Bruce said he kept the teeth in a plastic bag as evidence.
“My teeth was not rotten, nothing was wrong with it.”
Bruce said he was attacked by the man three days after he went to court to support his friend who was the victim in a case against the same man who allegedly beat him up.
Recounting the incident, Bruce said he was by his friend showing her how to use a garden machine when he heard his neighbour shout “watch out” before he felt a blow to the left side of his face, close to his eye, and then on his head. He said he was knocked unconscious and when he awoke he saw the man over him with a garden hoe.
“When I open my eye the man hit with the piece of wood in my mouth. My ankle mash up. Right now I have steel in my foot. It took about a year and a half before I could walk properly.”
Bruce said he came to court on April 11, 2016 and the matter was adjourned to July 5, 2016, but he thought it was July 15, 2016.
When he realised his mistake, he inquired from the court staff and was told the matter was adjourned to yesterday.
When he went to the station last week, Bruce said a sergeant told him the officer was on leave from December 9, 2016 to January 28, 2017 because a prisoner bit him.
He could not understand why the officer was not attending court.
“I feel terrible. I waiting for justice and my justice has slipped by. The person who did this felony smiling and happy.
The officer suppose to tell me when the trial start but I have to run around to find out what going on with this case.”
Determined not to allow his accused attacker to get away, Bruce said he intends to retain the services of an attorney.