Brother pleads guilty to assaulting brother over pot

A man from central Trinidad has been released on bail after appearing in court charged with assaulting his brother after he took his cooking pot without permission.

Mervin Calliste, a bar worker of Longdenville, Chaguanas, pleaded guilty to assault by beating after appearing virtually before Magistrate Duane Murray on Monday afternoon. The father of two was not immediately sentenced, as his attorney Bhimal Maharajh requested an adjournment to present his mitigation plea because he was unable to interview his client before the hearing, as there were several people detained at the police station at the time.

Magistrate Murray agreed and granted Calliste his own bail and adjourned the case to June 21. As part of the condition of his bail, Calliste was ordered to stay away from his brother.

According to the summary of evidence in the case, last Friday, officers of the Longdenville Police Post responded to a domestic violence report in the community. When the officers arrived at the location, they found Calliste attacking his brother with a large stone.

After the officers restrained Calliste and took possession of the stone, Calliste allegedly said, “Meh brother take meh pot.”The stone was marked and tendered into evidence during the hearing.

Meanwhile, a man from Enterprise has been released on $20,000 bail after appearing in court for breaching a protection order obtained by the mother of his child. Sylvester Mandeville appeared before Magistrate Murray charged with breaching the order by calling the victim and using obscene, violent and threatening language towards her.

Mandeville allegedly made the call on May 18 but was only arrested by police on Monday morning.Mandeville allegedly admitted that he had quarrelled with the victim but claimed his behaviour was because she prevented him from seeing their daughter. Mandeville, who has a pending case for another protection order breach, was not immediately sentenced and his case was adjourned to June 21. Mandeville is also being represented by Maharajh.