Raymond Ricardo Holder said he never “interfered” with the complainant who has accused him of attempted rape six years ago.
In his unsworn statement from the dock yesterday, Holder told Supreme Court No. 3A that he gave her some money and went to work.
Holder, of Jordans, St George, is charged with abducting and attempting to rape a 19-year-old girl on May 4, 2020. He is also accused of unlawfully taking the teen away against her will on the same date, with the intent of having sexual intercourse with her, as well as attempting to have sexual intercourse with her on the same date without her consent, or was reckless as to whether she consented. He was 38 at the time.
State Counsel Treann Knight is prosecuting, while the accused is being represented by attorneys Dr Lenda Blackman and Simon Clarke.
Holder recalled that on the day in question, the complainant called him, requesting that he get her some sanitary napkins and something to eat. He queried whether her mother could not supply the items, but later met the young woman and handed money over to her, before going on to work.
Later that day the complainant’s mother called and told him she heard he had interfered with her daughter. She wanted to know whether it was true, but Holder said he never answered.
The girl later messaged him to say it was her mother and not her.
When the complainant gave her evidence a few days ago, she told the court that on the morning of May 4, 2020, her mother left home to go and pay some bills. She left money so her children could go to the minimart to buy breakfast items to eat. The girl went but did not find what she wanted there.
On her way back home she saw the accused, who told her to come with him but she told him “no”.
Condom
She testified that Holder then grabbed her by the shoulder with his left hand, before carrying her “inside the cane ground”. She recalled seeing a grey booth in the cane ground.
She added Holder then requested oral sex, which she refused to perform; he then tried another sex act, but was unsuccessful. The girl said she left and went straight home, although she also could not remember what time the alleged incident took place.
She further told the court she made a report to the police, but later said it was her mother who did so. When shown photos by prosecutor Knight, the witness identified a condom, a wrapper and a bottle. She explained that the accused had torn the wrapper, put on the condom, tried to insert his penis afterwards and used water from the bottle to wash his hands. Under cross examination by defence counsel Blackman, the complainant could not recall whether she was having a period on May 4, 2020. She however, remembered asking her mother for money to purchase sanitary napkins and disagreed with the attorney that her mother never gave her that money.
The complainant further denied asking Holder for any funds that day to buy sanitary napkins, or that he gave her any money at all. She also could not remember collecting a phone from him that day.
Asked if the accused ever threatened to tell her boyfriend that he had given her money and a phone, the complainant again said this never happened.
Referring to the alleged incident itself, Blackman asked the witness whether Holder “put on the condom with two hands”.
“Yes,” she replied, but when asked what she had done during that time, she could not recall.
She also agreed that Holder pulled her over the road to a cane ground on the opposite side, even though there was one on the same side where they stood.
The young woman said she tried to make her way out of the cane ground at some point, but when asked if she tried doing so while the accused still held her hand, she said “yes”.
The complainant’s mother, who also testified last week, said she went to the post office that day to pay some bills. During that period, one of her daughters called and spoke to her. When she got home the complainant then told her that Holder had tried to rape her. The mother said she knew the accused well.
She therefore called him and asked whether what she had heard was true, but Holder never replied. She then informed him that she was taking her daughter to the police station.
After reaching there, they spoke to Sergeant Gail Garner and told her what had happened. Both the complainant and her mother gave statements, after which Garner and other officers accompanied them to the spot where the incident allegedly took place.
The case continues tomorrow before a nine member jury. Justice Anthony Blackman is presiding. (Sandra Downes)
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