Bahamas: Woman who threw boiling water on boyfriend acquitted
As domestic violence dominates the national discussion, a woman who scalded her boyfriend with boiling water was acquitted yesterday after telling the court he wasn’t interested in pursuing the case.
Paul Thurston was lying in bed on November 17, 2021, when 32-year-old Lesade Rolle, the mother of his three children, caused burns to 17 per cent of his body.
At her arraignment last year, she said the hot water incident was payback for Thurston pulling out her hair the day before.
The couple has a history of domestic violence complaints throughout their 16-year relationship.
Rolle’s trial was supposed to begin before Magistrate Kendra Kelly on Wednesday.
However, Thurston was initially a no-show. The prosecutor, Sergeant 260 Vernon Pyfrom, said he could not reach Thurston by phone.
That’s when Rolle informed the court that Thurston had gone to work and had no intention of pursuing the case.
After questioning the magistrate, Rolle admitted to sleeping over at Thurston’s Quarry Mission Road home in defiance of the court’s order. As a condition of her $6,000 bail, Rolle was to leave the house and live with her mother. She was barred from contacting Thurston while the case was pending.
But Rolle said after speaking on the phone, they had reconciled.
Magistrate Kelly threatened to revoke Rolle’s bail for breaching her bail conditions.
However, Thurston came to court later in the day to withdraw the case.
Testifying under oath, Thurston said the decision to drop the case was voluntary and that he’d not been threatened.
Thurston claimed that he never intended for the case to go to court, saying that he never complained to the police.
He also downplayed the seriousness of his injuries, saying that he “bounced back” within days.
He said, “I can’t let that lil’ thing hurt my head.”
As a result of Thurston’s testimony, Rolle was acquitted of grievous harm, an offence that attracts a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment.
After the acquittal, Kelly commented on the couple’s rocky relationship.
She said, “Neither of you is innocent. Both of you have inflicted harm on each other. That is not a loving relationship.
“Pain and suffering do not equate to love.”
Kelly encouraged the couple to be an excellent example to their daughters, ages 15, nine, and five.
She said their children would eventually have relationships of their own.
Thurston told the magistrate that another magistrate had described them as “two peas in one pod”.
Thurston put his arm on his girlfriend’s shoulder as they walked out of court.
Domestic violence has again come to the forefront following the January 22 shooting murder of Heavenly Nervous.
Her killer, Fenton Ferguson, shot himself and died in hospital two days later, police said.
Their relationship was also marred by violence.
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