Kerry Ann Jackson pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding Debra Bush-Jefferson and was given a suspended sentence for one year on Tuesday (28) by Acting Justice Carol Beswick and ordered to pay $1,205.09 in compensation.

On 10^th October, 2010 both Jackson and Bush-Jefferson along with 2 or 3 other friends, went to a club in George Town. They all had drinks together and when the club closed the group decided to eat somewhere else. However, it was apparent Jackson was too inebriated to drive safely and was persuaded to allow herself to be driven by one of her friends.

However, having arrived at the other eating establishment, Jackson had a change of mind and became determined to leave immediately and to drive herself.

The friend tried to stop her and a heated exchange took place that became violent. Bush-Jefferson with another friend tried to stop Jackson and the other lady fighting. It was whilst doing this that Bush-Jefferson felt a stinging sensation to her finger and noticed the top joint of her right pinky finger had gone. She shouted in alarm to Jackson that she had bitten off her finger. Jackson’s response was to contort her face and spit the piece of finger from her mouth onto the ground.

Bush-Jefferson was rushed to the hospital and received medical assistance there. The skin of the remaining portion of the finger was grafted but the tip itself could not be saved.

When handing down her sentence Justice Beswick said:

The Defendant is of previous good character with no other convictions;

in wounding the Complainant the Defendant used a single bite and there was no repeated or sustained attack;

as a result of the Defendant’s own action she has also now suffered several far-reaching and long-term losses or has the real probability of suffering those losses;

she has lost or is likely to lose the age old friendship of some of the persons involved in the incident. The persons involved (some were called as prosecution witnesses) regularly went out together on weekends and have been doing so for many years. The group shared camaraderie and enjoyed socializing together. This incident could have had its genesis in the desire of the Defendant’s friends to protect her from herself. The evidence showed she often fell victim to excessive consumption of alcohol;

she has lost the opportunity to readily obtain employment because she now has a criminal record which limits the jobs in which she can be employed;

she has lost the opportunity to travel abroad freely, in particular to the USA, because of the criminal record.

The Judge then had to consider the position of the victim and her pain and suffering and handed down her sentence. The Defendant was also placed on a curfew during the period of the suspended sentence on Friday, Saturday and Sundays between 9pm and 6am. Jackson was also barred from consuming any alcoholic beverage in a public place throughout the twelve months.

Judge Beswick also said the Complainant is at liberty to sue the Defendant and  obtain monetary redress in the civil courts after a detailed and comprehensive assessment  of the losses she suffered.

In accordance with the sentencing guidelines, the circumstances of the offence and local precedents, the judge said the starting point after a trial would have been a suspended sentence of 18 months for two years but discounted the periods to 12 months after Jackson’s guilty plea.