A young man who has been languishing behind bars because his family could not afford his $1-M bail had the bond reduced when he appeared in court last Thursday, December 4. Akema Anderson has been in custody for some time resulting from an alleged assault on his girlfriend and an alleged knife attack on a man. He was previously offered bail, however, his relatives have been unable to post bail because of the amount. In court on Thursday, RM Andrea Thomas reduced the sum to $800,000 with up to three sureties, although the man’s lawyer begged the magistrate to put it at $700,000. Anderson is accused of attacking his then girlfriend and one of her male friends while they were attending a function at Priory beach in St. Ann, some time ago. It is alleged that Anderson who was friendly with the woman at the time of the alleged attack sent several text messages to her phone enquiring of her whereabouts. The woman reportedly ignored the messages. When she exited the function she was reportedly met in the parking lot by Anderson who allegedly held onto her and kicked her to the ground.
The woman’s male friend intervened and a argument reportedly developed between him and Anderson. It is alleged that Anderson pulled a knife and stabbed the male friend in the chest and cut him on his leg. Further, according to the prosecution, Anderson called his girlfriend‘s mother and told her that if he did not know her he would have killed her daughter because she has been disrespecting him. Anderson’s lawyer, Everard Webster, said it was his client who was attacked by the man and that he acted in self defence when he swung the knife and it caught the man. The lawyer said the man and his friends swarmed Anderson and he acted in self defence. If Anderson takes up his bail he is to return to court on January 20, 2015.
