A Point Fortin mason who beat his girlfriend on the face with a concrete block so that no other man would want her was put on a two-year bond on Wednesday and ordered to pay $20,000 in compensation.
Peter Dyer, 57, attacked his then girlfriend, Nikesha Elliot, while she was asleep on the couch in the living room of her Moruga home eight years ago.
Dyer, the father of five, appeared before Justice Devan Rampersad in the San Fernando First Criminal Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to wounding Elliot with intent to do her grievous bodily harm.
State attorney Angelica Teelucksingh said around midnight on July 5, 2006 Elliot was asleep when she felt someone choking her.
When she opened her eyes she saw Dyer, whom she had known since childhood as they lived on the same street.
Teelucksingh said Elliot tried to alert her father, who lived next door.
Dyer then grabbed Elliot by the shoulder and dragged her out of the house.
Teelucksingh said Dyer then picked up a concrete block and hit Elliot on the face more than five times, telling her: “I want to tell you when I done with you, no man must want you. You playing hard to dead.”
Elliot’s son came out of the house and began screaming and Dyer ran off when he saw Elliot’s father.
Elliot, who was bleeding from the mouth, was treated at the Princes Town Health Facility and San Fernando General Hospital for injuries to her head, eye and mouth. She also had a broken tooth.
When Dyer was arrested by PC Hamilton he said: “Boss, me eh beat that woman, that woman fall.”
Attorney Carine Jailal asked for a bond, saying Dyer had accepted responsibility, never had any other matters in court, was an outstanding citizen, had spent 13 months in prison awaiting trial and was seeking forgiveness.
She told the judge Dyer and the woman had been in a relationship and the assault was triggered by a dispute.
Saying it was an unpleasant attack on a defenceless person, the judge said such offences were prevalent in society.
He said he took a number of things into consideration, including Dyer’s age, his guilty plea, that he had offered compensation, and was remorseful and that he was unlikely to offend again.
However, he warned Dyer that if he broke the $20,000 bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour he would be brought back for sentencing. He ordered him to pay $1,700 of the compensation immediately and the rest within 12 months.