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Woman pleads guilty to assault

ELAINE REID-THOMPSON will be praying during the next month that a 10-year-old child that was hit with a piece of block in the head does not die.

Reid-Thompson, 39, of a Kingston 11 address pleaded guilty to the charge of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm when she appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. Reid was charged following an incident in which she threw the missile at one of the boy's relatives but caught the child instead.

According to court documents, on the day in question, Reid and the child's relative had a dispute. During the dispute, Reid reportedly picked up two objects which were said to be 'quarter blocks' and threw them in the direction of the child's relative. It is reported that the man moved and the blocks hit the child who was outside playing. The child reportedly began kicking and crying before losing consciousness. Checks later revealed that the child's skull above his left ear had been fractured.

When the matter came up for mention in court, Reid, while admitting guilt apologised to the courts. She said that the block was thrown at the boy's relative because of his behaviour. She said he had dropped his pants and showed them his buttocks and genitals on many occasions and she threw the stones to hit him but it caught the child

Reid's case was not helped however when the court learnt that the child was in the hospital in critical condition.

After hearing that information, Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle said he would postpone sentencing until August 22 when the case will again be mentioned. Reid in the meantime had her $20,000 bail extended until that day.