Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
“Lola” agrees to compensate assault victim
By Trishan Craig
Popular make-up artist and social media personality, Lolita Callendar, commonly known as “Lola” yesterday missed being sent to prison, but according to Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty, “the dogs of war are after her heels.”
Callendar was charged for assaulting fellow make-up artiste Onika Pompey and was to receive a sentence for the offence yesterday. However, the parties finally settled for compensation.
Lolita ‘Lola’ Callendar
The matter is being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. A probation report on the background of the defendant was presented to the court yesterday.In the report it was mentioned that Callendar had to fend for herself at the early age of 16. She moved on to own her own business and became the sole breadwinner for her three children.
Callendar told the probation officer that despite having a lot of friends and followers on social media her business fell to the ground after being incarcerated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
It was also mentioned that she has shown remorse for her actions based on the incident between herself and the victim, however she claimed that it was Pompey who was the aggressor in the altercation.
The accused then told the court to settle the matter, she is willing to pay, but she cannot give a huge amount of money as she is in a financial crisis and her grandmother recently passed away.
Pompey then interjected saying that they both have friends in the same circle and two persons had offered to lend Callendar the money to pay the compensation and she refused it. Pompey also told the court that “Lola” recently promoted an event, and therefore she has the money to pay her.
To this the magistrate said, “I do not follow social media but I do hear the rumble of it, and at one time as I was viewing the video evidence, I saw someone holding on to a head and was hitting it as though they were trying to burst coconut to make cook-up rice.”
Onika Pompey
She added, “I don’t believe all that you [Callendar] told the probation officer was true and if it is that you cannot compensate the victim, I know what I can do.”
The magistrate then stood down the matter for a few minutes to allow the accused to be guided by her lawyer on the way forward.
When they returned Callendar told the court that she can pay a sum of $200,000 within four weeks. Pompey however, stated that she is not accepting anything less than what she wanted as compensation, which is $800,000.
The accused said, “I am not the same person I was a year ago. Being incarcerated has changed me. To this the magistrate stated that it appears that incarceration changes the accused and maybe she should give a sentence to that effect, but Callendar declined to have that done.
The magistrate then indicated that she will allow the time to pay the compensation in parts, but if the accused shows up on the next date and is unable to pay, the court will take a different course.
“Counsel, I advise you to let your client know that the dogs of war are after her heels. I don’t want to see or hear anything on social media, because if you slip you slide.”
The matter was then adjourned to February 21, 2020 for partial compensation.
Last year Principal Magistrate McGusty ruled that after viewing video evidence which corresponds with the statements of the victim, she found Callendar guilty of the offence.
Previously, Callendar, 27, of Lot 231 East Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, Georgetown, denied the charge, which stated that on April 6, 2019, at Leopold Street, she caused grievous bodily harm to Pompey.
Pompey, 28, a make-up artist, of Lot 61 Barima Avenue, Bel Air Park, was also charged. Her matter has since been dismissed for lack of evidence from Callendar who at the time was imprisoned.
The two women are said to be known to each other but when the incident happened, they weren’t on speaking terms. On the day in question, Pompey and “Lola” had a misunderstanding, which resulted in a scuffle.
According to reports, Pompey received lacerations about her body, some from several bites and “Lola” lost five fingernails after Pompey allegedly pulled her from her vehicle.
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