Barbados Water Authority Employee Remanded to Dodds Prison Until October 30 Amid Assault Allegations

A Barbados Water Authority employee accused of several offences, including unlawfully and maliciously assaulting his girlfriend, has been remanded to Dodds Prison until October 30.

Martin Joseph Massiah, a 26-year-old plumber from Bournes Land, Silver Sands, Christ Church, was denied bail when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court on Wednesday.

He was not required to plead to the indictable charges of entering the premises of Ri Royal Beauty Bar as a trespasser and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Ria Johnson while being armed with a knife, and damaging her air-conditioned unit, or was reckless, as to whether the property would be damaged, on September 30.

The charges read by the chief magistrate also included that on the same day, Massiah drove his car so furiously that it caused bodily harm to Shannon Burgess.

Police Constable Ralph Rollock “strenuously” objected to Massiah being granted bail.

Citing the new Bail Act on which he based his grounds, the prosecutor argued that there is a likelihood Massiah may influence or intimidate the witnesses if released on bail, that it would not be in the public’s interest to let him go, and that the charge of entering a person’s dwelling and inflicting harm on them is a serious matter.

Constable Rollock also contended that since the accused is known to the complainant, he may interfere with her or repeat the alleged offences against her. He further submitted that the evidence against Massiah was strong.

But defence attorney Damien Sands described the prosecutor’s argument as lacking in substance.

Insisting that he needed to provide context to the charges, Sands reasoned that they sprung from an incident that occurred between the girlfriend and boyfriend on the same day.

The lawyer stressed that while the prosecutor may convey the impression of a string of offences, it was a one-off incident and no previous or ongoing ones with the complainant.

He also addressed the charge of entering the complainant’s property as a trespasser. Sands informed the court that his client “sleeps at the residence where the incident took place”.

While accepting the prosecution’s contention that the matter is a serious one, Sands pointed to a threshold of seriousness, identifying an upper end and describing the charge against his client as “medium severity”.

He was adamant that there should be no issue granting bail to Massiah because the court can and should impose strict conditions, including a substantial bail sum and requiring him to report to the police station.