‘I could not eat’

When called to testify against his alleged attacker Klenton Pickering this week, Louis Callwood told the court that doctors had to wire his mouth shut for eight weeks to allow his dislocated jaw to heal.

“I couldn’t eat; I couldn’t sleep,” said Callwood, who also told the court that he now has a titanium plate affixed to his jaw as result of the alleged attack.

Callwood further testified that, on the day of the incident, he fell asleep and missed the stipulated time for him to have collected his pay from the accused.

He nonetheless met the accused at Tortola Pier Park.

He stated that he asked for his pay.

Callwood said the accused, Pickering, was in the company of three women – two of whom he knows well.

He said he made an inappropriate joke with one of the women, adding that the women laughed, but Pickering seemed ‘insulted’.

Callwood testified that he told the accused that he was at the location to collect his pay.

He said the accused pushed him in an aggressive manner, and told him to come back another time.

Callwood insisted that he should be paid, and that’s when Pickering allegedly socked him in the face, causing him to fall.

“He charged at me and swing one right punch, which totally caught me off guard… I was shocked,” Callwood told the court

He said Pickering then punched him in the face multiple times before other persons at the location intervened.

“I took seven other punches to the face; the ladies were right there; they saw it all,” Callwood said.

In court, Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards told Callwood to rate the intensity of the alleged punches on a scale from one to 10.

Callwood said ’20’.

Meanwhile, Dr Harlan Vanterpool was called to testify in court as a medical expert in the case.

He stated that Callwood’s injuries are consistent with injuries received in a motor bike accident.

“Because it’s both sides of the face [that were fractured], I would not believe that it’s one blow [that the victim received]… It’s at least two impact injuries,” said Dr Vanterpool.

The trial will continue on July 3.