Campden Park man sent for mental health evaluation

A DEEPER EXAMINATION into the mind of a 48-yearold accused, on Tuesday, revealed something sinister lying in the shadows, prompting the Magistrate to send him for a mental health evaluation.

Fitzroy Roberts was charged before the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court, Tuesday, that on April 23 in Campden Park, he did damage one sliding window belonging to another Roberts of Campden Park, and for being in the public road having in his possession an offensive weapon.

Roberts answered in a polite manner to the Magistrate, admitting “Yes, I break it your honour.” He also nodded his head, and admitted to being guilty of having the offensive weapon in his possession.

The accused Roberts, before the facts were read, had indicated that the complainant in the matter also had a cutlass in his possession.

When the facts were being read for the first time, they revealed that the defendant and the complainant lived opposite each other.

Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett asked whether the complainant was present in court. It was stated that he was not, and Burnett asked that he be brought to court, because the two parties had to go home to live next to each other.

He was about to postpone the matter to Wednesday, but the defendant indicated that he had been on leave for seven days and was to go back to work the next day.

Following this, both the complainant and his wife were asked to make their way to court at that time.

When the two reached, they got into the witness box, while the defendant glared at them. The facts were that the complainant who was in his house at around 8:30 p.m., had heard loud noises on his roof, and after going outside, he asked a young man from the neighbourhood where the sound was coming from. The young man pointed in a direction, and the complainant saw the defendant, who had been throwing stones at the house. Soon after, one of these stones broke a kitchen window of the complainant’s house. The police met the defendant standing in the road with a cutlass when they arrived.

The accused, who was still glaring at his neighbour, had no criminal record before the court.

The complainant and his wife, who also bear the surname Roberts, stated that they were not, to their knowledge, related to the defendant.

Burnett asked how long it has been since things went bad between the two parties.

“Me ain even know things go bad with me and him, sir,” the complainant answered.

The defendant on the other hand said that it had been a long time, and that the complainant had been putting needles in him. When asked what kind of needles, he responded, “me ain know what kind of needle, but me feel the needle.”

He remained serious as he said that his neighbour’s wife knows what is being done, and “he humbugging me.”

When asked if he meant obeah, the defendant replied, “all them things too”.

“Two of them know what they doing to me,” he stated.

“Me ain know what he talking about,” the complainant stated. He explained that the two of them had been fine, but “I see he does be moving different.”

“So you don’t move different?” the accused asked. “Going on a good time he humbugging me,” he stated, indicating that it had been two years.

Burnett asked the accused if he knew what year it was. “I ain go know the year…today is Monday,” the defendant replied (it was Tuesday).

“2020?… 2019?… 2018?” asked the Magistrate.

“I can’t tell you my worship,” he repeated.

It was revealed that his leave was given so that he could go and see a doctor, because he had been acting strangely. The Senior Magistrate said he was going to send him to a different place to be examined, as the defendant was not communicating in a way that gave him confidence that he was really with them.

He told the accused that he was going to send him to a specialist at the Mental Health Centre. The evaluation would take place over the span of two weeks, and the elderly man will return to court on May 8.

FITZROY ROBERTS says he does not know what his neighbours are doing to him