Woman faints in court

A 20-year-old woman, moments after telling a senior parish judge that she was depressed, collapsed in court and had to be assisted by court staff and police officers.

The young woman was before The Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on a charge of assault occasioning bodily harm. She had pressed similar charges against the complainant in the matter, who was a no-show.

The matter between the women was referred to mediation, which the court heard was successful. Compensation was to be made, but the other accused had not returned to court since the last mention date.

Moments before collapsing, the defendant told the judge that she has been depressed and that she suffered a seizure a week ago.

"I'm this close, I'm going through a lot, and I'm this close to committing suicide," she related, wiping her tears.

The the judge said that in addition to being a single parent, she has the task of caring for a disabled family member. The judge, in seeking to provide comfort to the woman, urged her to ride out her storm while adding that she was placed on Earth for a purpose.

"You have such a full beautiful life ahead of you, believe me, and I know that these are stressful times but I don't want you there. Let me tell you something, I have no plans to send you to prison, and I know coming to court is not a comfortable thing, but I just want you to bare a little longer. If this is the major thing stressing you, don't let it stress you," the senior judge encouraged.

The judge recommended that the young woman seeks counselling or consider doing fun activities to lighten her mood.

"You have too much living for and I'm going to give you another date to come back to court, and when you come back to court, you and I will talk how things have been. That means you must come back to court," the judge said.

However, as the judge spoke the words of encouragement the woman started to shiver and seconds later she fainted in the prisoner's dock. Court proceedings came to a halt as police and other court staff rushed to her aid.

She was later removed from the courtroom in order for her to get medical attention.

She is to return to court on April 26.