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18 months for man who assaulted 3-year-old stepson
Nineteen-year-old Navindra Lall was yesterday sentenced to18 months in jail after he was found guilty of assaulting his 3-year-old stepson. Lall, of Lot 24 Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Demerara, is said to have abused the child while he was under the influence of alcohol.
Jailed: Navindra Lall
The defendant was arraigned before Magistrate Alisha George in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Courts.
On Lall’s first court appearance, he pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on October 29, 2019, at the aforementioned address, he assaulted his stepson, so as to cause him actual bodily harm.
Lall was placed on bail by the Magistrate, but he couldn’t afford to post the sum, and he remained on remand until the hearing and determination of his trial.
When the matter was called for continuation yesterday, Police Prosecutor Tyndall, called five witnesses to testify in the matter. They included the victim’s mother, two neighbours, a probation officer and a police officer.
The unrepresented Lall sat in the prisoners’ dock while the five witnesses testified under oath. Even though the witnesses were available for cross examination, Lall did not pose any questions to them.
According to the mother of the three-year-old victim, she has two sons, one of whom Lall fathers. The woman told the court that throughout her relationship with Lall, he always had an issue with the 3-year-old child making noise.
The woman added that on October 29, 2019, she left the two children in the care of Lall while she went to work. She later got a phone call that he had locked the children outside and that they were crying.
When she reached home, her two sons were indeed outside; the police and her neighbours were also there. Attempts were made to locate Lall, who when confronted said that he had fallen asleep in the verandah. The mother of two noted that when she looked at her son’s eyes they were bloodshot. The mother then inquired of her son as to what happened and he told her that Lall hit him.
But, Lall denied hitting the child, the mother testified.
The neighbours called the Child Care and Protection Agency, and the following day a probation officer visited the home. In the probation officer’s testimony, she said that when she arrived at the home she was told that the child wasn’t there.
She added that the neighbours then told her that the child was indeed inside the house. “When I got access to the child to inspect him he had bruises to his eyes, and then I took the entire family to the police station,” the Probation Officer told the court.
Lall was later charged for assaulting the 3-year-old boy, and Child Care and Protection Agency took custody of the child.
After the witnesses testified, Lall went into the witness box to lead a defence. He told the court that he was downstairs imbibing with his landlord and another man. He said that he later became intoxicated and fell asleep on the verandah, leaving the children unattended.
While Lall was being cross-examined by the prosecutor, he told the court that he couldn’t recall if he hit the child, since he was drunk.
Magistrate George told Lall that there was substantial evidence against him for the offence with which he was charged. She pointed out that since he was left to care for the two children, the court would not be lenient with him.
Before passing sentence, the Magistrate thanked the neighbours for getting involved. In imposing the custodial sentence, the Magistrate took into consideration the prevalence of child abuse in society, and the fact that Lall was under the influence of alcohol.
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