Beer brawl! - Man snaps after bar refuses to serve him

A St James man who reportedly broke a bar window after the operator refused to sell him any alcohol, will know his fate when he returns to the St James Parish Court for sentencing next month.

Chando Allen, 33, pleaded guilty to the charge of malicious destruction of property, and not guilty for unlawful wounding, when he appeared before presiding Parish Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton on Wednesday. The court was told that on April 18, Allen went to a bar and ordered a drink. The complainant's wife, who was serving in the bar, reportedly refused to serve Allen due to a past dispute over rum, and a quarrel ensued between the two.

The complainant arrived and sought to intervene in the dispute, at which point Allen allegedly threw stones at him. One of the stones broke a rum bottle the complainant was holding, resulting in cuts to his hand and knee. One of the bar's windows was also damaged during the melee.

"Why did you do that?" Fairclough-Hylton asked Allen, after the allegations were outlined.

"Mi go fi buy a Heineken in the shop, and the shopkeeper said she nah sell me, so mi ask what me do her, and she started to disrespect me. I got angry, and that's how things happened," Allen answered. "I threw a stone because the man [complainant] did have a stone in his hand first, and him come out with the stone and the rum bottle, and him fling after me first. The first stone I flung, it hit the rum bottle and burst it in his hand."

The court was told that the complainant and the investigating officer were absent from the proceedings and that efforts to contact the complainant had proven unsuccessful. It was also disclosed that the medical certificate was outstanding. Fairclough-Hylton subsequently extended Allen's bail to June 18, when he will return to court for sentencing in relation to the malicious destruction of property charge.