Magistrate orders review of video

Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo has ordered the review of critical surveillance footage to determine whether to accept contractor Irvin Conner’s guilty plea regarding an incident in which he is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Conner is accused of hitting the complainant, Winston Dean, with a beer bottle at Waterfront Taxi Stand.

When the accused was called to answer to the charge in court, he admitted to hitting the complainant, but stated that he was not the instigator.

“I don’t hit people first; I’m not a violent person; I’m not a fighter… He (Dean) started getting funny with me for no reason,” Conner told the magistrate.

Magistrate Baptiste-DaBreo, who then learnt that there is video footage of the incident, ordered that the footage be reviewed to verify Conner’s claim.

“It seems to me that what he (Conner) is detailing is self-defence and, if that is the case, I cannot accept his guilty plea,” the magistrate noted.

Allegations are that the complainant met Conner at the said taxi stand in Road Town.

Conner reportedly started to put his phone towards the complainant’s face in an attempt to show him something.

The complainant ignored Conner and allegedly armed himself with a piece of wood.

It is said that the complainant discarded the wood shortly after, because he did not want trouble.

However, Conner allegedly armed himself with a beer bottle and poked the complainant in the face.

Further allegations are that the complainant tried to leave the area but stumbled over a chair, which impacted Conner.

Conner reportedly retaliated by throwing the beer bottle at the complaint, hitting him in the face.

The matter was reported to police.

During a police interview, Conner reportedly said: “He raised a chair at me; so I struck him.”

Conner has been offered $30,000 signed bail in court.

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