A young man who slapped his grandmother in the face at her St Michael home has been severely reprimanded and remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes, who declared that disrespect for the elderly will not be tolerated.
“I am in a state of shock. You live at your grandmother. You hit your grandmother—this lady who feeds you—and then you say to me that you do not want to go to prison. You have come to me already. You cannot be serious! I am going to give you some time to reflect. Let me send a message to young people that no disrespect will be tolerated,” the chief magistrate said while chastising Achim Johnathan Wiltshire, 25, whom he remanded to prison until December 18.
Wiltshire, of Pondside Housing Area, Nelson Street, appeared in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and admitted to assaulting Marano Wiltshire, occasioning her actual bodily harm last Friday.
Prosecutor Station Sergeant Chrisna Williams told the court that the accused lives with the complainant and several other relatives. The elderly woman lost her balance and fell in the living room of her home. The accused came out of one of the bedrooms, began cursing her and threatening to slap and kick her, and she replied that if he wanted someone to do those things to, he should do them to his girlfriend. The accused then slapped her on the left side of her face, saying: “You didn’t know I was going to slap you, nuh?”
On Monday, the Family Conflict Unit, the National Assistance Board, and the complainant’s niece became concerned for the grandmother’s well-being and reported the incident to the police.
The accused, who had been reprimanded and discharged earlier this year by the same court for using abusive language, said: “I ask for you to grant me some leniency and don’t send me to prison. I can’t handle that mentally. Any other punishment that you would like to give me, Sir, I would take. I apologise to my grandmother for all I did.”
But Chief Magistrate Weekes replied: “I maintain children are being spoiled in Barbados. This is our major problem. You all have it too easy. I had a grandmother in here recently, the boy is not working, but he still eating food in the house. I don’t know how that happens. We are going too far with this foolishness when we talk about child abuse. There is a difference between child abuse and discipline. Your grandmother is a nation builder. I have a problem with a society that values those young people who aren’t making any substantial contribution, but our nation builders, who are senior citizens, we seem to be forgetting.
“Why in Heaven’s name do you think that you would have a right to slap your grandmother? It should never be a thought in your head… You put your hands on a nation builder, a senior citizen, a person who is most vulnerable. You should be the first person protecting her.”
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