BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE virtual complainant in the case against Bryan Murray, charged with grievous bodily harm, told the Court yesterday afternoon (Mar. 3) that the accused was the one who stabbed him.
The trial began with Counsel O'Neil Simpson prosecuting while Attorney Chesley Hamilton is providing representation for the accused.
The victim, Albert Millington Jr., told the Court that on the night of February 12, 2011, he attended an event put on by the Verchilds High School at the school’s compound.
He said he was "rushed" by Murray, an acquaintance he knew for a number of years. He said he was scheduled to perform at the show but after the brief incident, he changed his mind as he "wasn't feeling it".
Millington testified that he watched Murray walk outside the gate and met with his friends, adding that he [Millington] stayed where he was until the show ended at 11:45 p.m.
After the show, Millington said he and a friend walked down the road that lead to the school with the intention of taking a bus home to Middle Island where he lived at the time.
He explained that on his way down the road he passed a shop from the side of which he saw Murray run and he (Murray) threw a stone at him. Millington told the court that the stone hit him in his lower back.
He said Murray first walked, then ran up the road before turning down into Green Tree Project.
Millington explained that he and his friend continued walking down the road and stopped under the third lamp post at the Church, to catch a bus.
He testified that he was approached by Murray and three of his friends. He said Murray pushed him on the lamp post, pulled a knife from his back pocket and stabbed him before backing away.
He said he pushed Murray away from him but did not do anything else because he felt weak.
He told the Court that Murray's friends encouraged him to stab Millington again and beat him but all he did was stand and stare.
The virtual complainant said they then walked away in the direction of Old road and when they reached a distance away they ran.
He said he began walking in the direction of Middle Island to go home and he made attempts to call his father but they were unsuccessful.
He testified that he crossed the road but fell to the ground just outside of the pre-school, just a short distance from the Church.
He said his friend picked him up, stopped a bus and requested they be taken to the hospital (the Joseph N. France General Hospital) which they were.
Millington told the Court that his friend and another person took him inside the hospital to Accident and Emergency and he could only remember waking up in a hospital bed to see friends and family members.
He said he spent two to three weeks in the hospital. He also told the Court that he travelled to Florida to have his wound checked because "it was still hurting" and he was told that the the area had become infected.
He testified that Murray was wearing "a black tam, green t-shirt and three quarter jean pants" on the night of the incident.
During cross-examination, it was put to Millington that he was not being truthful in his testimony, which he denied.
It was also put to him that he assumed Murray threw the stone that hit him and that he could not have seen who actually hit him which he also denied.
It was also put to him that he was with more than one friend that night and they approached Murray at the bus stop in Verchilds and attempted to "gang him" which he again denied.
Millington further denied that he and his friends were the ones who went looking for Murray and that he was the one with the knife.
He also denied the suggestion that there was wrestling between him and Murray which resulted in him being stabbed.
It was put to him that he did not spend two to three weeks in the hospital and that he was discharged two days later on February 14, 2011, but Millington maintained he was not.
Also testifying was Dr. Cameron Wilkinson who gave evidence as to the state of Millington's wound on the night of the incident.
The matter continues today at the Basseterre High Court located in the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial and Legal Services Complex.
