Husband and wife brawl over phone call

A husband and wife who got into a physical brawl during an argument at their home in early May, were warned to keep the peace after their case was discontinued following a successful mediation session at the St James Parish Court on Wednesday.

Howard Edwards and Rushane Campbell-Edwards, of an Earls Drive address in Montego Bay, were both before the court on charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against each other. The allegations against Edwards are that on May 4, Campbell-Edwards overheard him talking on the phone, which led to an argument that escalated into a physical fight. During the brawl, Edwards pushed his wife, resulting in her suffering injuries to her hands and head. Concerning Campbell-Edwards, she allegedly attacked and punched her husband in the chest and pulled on his hair after he told her that he wanted a divorce.

During Wednesday's hearing, Edwards' lawyer, Jacqueline Minto, told presiding judge Nateisha Fairclough-Hylton that her client did not start the conflict with his wife. However, Campbell-Edwards' lawyer, Jillian Haughton, said that her client was minded to attend mediation, but that the husband had not expressed interest in doing so. The matter was subsequently stood down to allow the couple to sit with a court-appointed mediator. A short time later, when the case was recalled, it was revealed that they had come to an agreement.

The couple subsequently received no-evidence motions from the court for their case to be discontinued, at which point Fairclough-Hylton warned them to abide by the terms of the mediation agreement.

"I understand that this relationship is at an end or almost at an end, and that's life, because persons will get married and persons will get divorced. However, you are not to behave in such a manner that you end up being charged with criminal offences and brought before the court," Fairclough-Hylton told the couple before letting them leave the courtroom.