Chopping case set for January 17

WESTERN BUREAU:

A St James man, who reportedly cut off another man's hand in 2011 during a dispute over rum, had his bail extended until January 17, 2017, following his most recent appearance in the St James Parish Court on Thursday.

Oneil Pinnock, originally of a Maroon Town address, is charged with felonious wounding. It is alleged that on August 15, 2011, at 9:30 a.m., Pinnock and the complainant got into an argument over rum, during which the accused used a machete to sever the complainant's left hand. However, Pinnock had previously told the court that the complainant had attacked him with a machete after Pinnock intervened in a dispute the other man was having with a shopkeeper.

On Thursday, presiding judge Natalie Hart-Hines was told that the matter had been reassigned to a different investigator and that the officer had made unsuccessful efforts to contact the complainant to attend court. Hart-Hines subsequently set the case to be mentioned on January 17, following which the matter will be dismissed for want of prosecution if no progress has been made.