Christopher Thomas, STAR Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:

Three men accused of beating a family member during a quarrel over the burning of garbage, will return to the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court in July as a medical reported needed by the court is not ready.

Father and son, Lloyd and Patrick Brown and their neighbour Exton Cooper, all from Montego Hill, St James, were previously before the court on May 31 to answer to the charge of assault occasioning bodily harm against the complainant Norma Brown.=

The court had previously been told that the incident began when the woman tried to put out the fire on a pile of garbage, which was lit by the elder Brown, causing an argument. During the argument, she was reportedly assaulted by all three men.

"Miss, you're related to these gentlemen?" Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small asked the complainant on Thursday.

"Those two, they say they're my family," Brown answered, pointing to the two Browns in the prisoner's dock.

problem

"You can't say that 'they say' they're your family; one is your brother and one is your nephew, so they are your family. So what is the problem?" the RM asked.

"On May 23, mi catch some water in a pan, and mi see Lloyd (the senior Brown) come straight up the path and have some paper to light. Mi say "no light no paper up here" and him still light the paper," Brown explained.

The complainant added that she has had to carry Patrick (the younger Brown) to court on a past occasion for violence.

"In 2001 mi carry Patrick here because him push me down into a gutter," Brown told the court.

"From what you're telling me, it seems you're not interested in settling the matter," Wong-Small said to complainant.

Meanwhile, the prosecution admitted that the medical certificate has not yet been completed for addition to the case file. The case was therefore set for mention on July 25, for the file to be completed.

"Gentlemen, if you intend to get a lawyer, might I suggest you do so between now and July 25," Wong-Small told the three accused men.