Man jailed for slapping on duty female traffic warden

A man slapped his ex-girlfriend, a traffic cop, in a public road while she was on duty, because, he alleges, she wrote a letter which made him unable to go to meet his wife in Canada.

Now, far from going to Canada, Zeno Audain will instead spend 10 months in confinement at Her Majesty’s Prison, or the Belle Isle Correctional Institution.

The victim in the matter, Albertha Edwards, was assaulted on September 4, at Richmond Hill, by Audain, who caused the officer actual bodily harm. Edwards was not present in court to refute anything that Audain alleged.

It was confirmed that the traffic officer and the convicted Audain, who is a 36-year-old resident of Buccament, used to be in a relationship a long time ago.

On the day of the incident Edwards was dressed in her uniform, standing in the area of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus. She saw the defendant approach UWI, where construction work is currently underway, and attempt to pick up what appeared to be a cutlass. He didn’t succeed in attaining the cutlass, because one of the workers told him to put it down.

However, he persisted, and leaving the UWI compound, walked towards the traffic cop, pointing his fingers in her face and cursing her. The police officer did not respond, but Audain responded to this indifference by slapping her face, and causing her to fall down. The force of the slap was such that her police cap fell off and rolled into the gutter.

A young man came to help the officer, picking her and her hat up and taking both to the police station.

The defendant was picked up last Saturday, and charged this Monday.

Audain had first said that he was guilty “with an explanation” but ultimately said he was guilty. His explanation turned out to be that he was feeling depressed and “so down.”

“Your honour this young lady has deprived me from travelling to Canada to met my wife,” the Buccament resident told Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne. He claimed that she had written three letters.

The recipient of one of these letters was his wife, and another was the Canadian immigration office in Trinidad and Tobago, he said. Inside these letters were “derogatory” things about him and his wife, “and they cancelled the application because of what she said,” Audain submitted.

Nothing has been done following this, he continued, even though he went to two Commissioners of Police about it.

“They told me that they would look into the matter and it will take some time. Your honour I was feeling so depressed, so down,” he stated, and that his wife was frustrated.

The chief magistrate stopped him. She reminded him that the matter that was before her involved him assaulting the officer.

“Your honour, I am asking this court to please have some mercy on me as I show remorse for my action, because I already forgiven the police as well, because they have kicked me down,” he answered.
While he said that he wanted to say sorry to the “young lady”, in the same breath he continued saying that he was beaten down by her.

Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche started his submission by saying that the attack was completely unprovoked. He pointed out that the officer had given Audain a chance once before at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court when she refused to give evidence in a case concerning a charge laid against him for death threats to her. Audain also has a criminal record which shows that the only offences he has been convicted for are violent crimes.

“They would have had their differences yes, but you’re a big man, and to walk up, and he took up a cutlass your honour…what were you doing with a cutlass?” Delplesche asked him.
Audain claimed that he just took up the weapon without intending to do anything. “I’m very sorry,” he said.

The prosecution continued, “Your honour, in broad daylight, an officer on duty. It’s not only the criminal part, but the moral part…the embarrassment. The officer on the ground, cap rolling in the gutter.”

Audain pleaded, “Your honour I’ve been walking a thin line for a very long time your honour….Circumstances sometimes your honour, they make you do things. You understand?”
Tears were shed as the defendant awaited his fate.
In sentencing him to a 10-month jail sentence, the chief magistrate noted that the officer was on duty and there must be a level of respect. Aggravating features were that it occurred in broad daylight in a crowded area, while Edwards was dressed in her uniform. The officer did not answer him in any way but this did not stop him from accosting her, the magistrate said. She also noted what the image of the officer being slapped to the ground would have portrayed to the public. Her initial sentence was 15 months imprisonment, but due to the guilty plea it was reduced to 10 months.