Owen Williams, a man charged with assault after being accused of beating a woman, basically told the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court that he had good reason to do so as the complainant had set obeah on him, causing him to suffer from constant diarrhoea.

Williams pleaded "guilty with explanation" to assault occasioning bodily harm when he appeared before Resident Magistrate Georgianna Fraser yesterday.

Williams, who had been sitting in the dock for most of the almost three hours of proceedings, spent most of the time hunched over. When his case was finally called up, he could hardly stand upright and writhed in pain as he explained his story to the RM.

He told the court that the complainant had given him "a piece of cake with something on it". He said after eating the cake, he immediately fell ill and has been having diarrhoea ever since. He also repeatedly that he was feeling a lot of pain. "It a hurt mi, Your Honour," he said.

When RM Fraser enquired if he had visited a doctor, he revealed that he had been on several occasions, but with no result. In response to whether the doctor had told him that the complainant had set obeah on him, he told the court that the complainant herself had told him.

The complainant, however, ignored his allegations and told the court that she wanted to be compensated for her injuries. She told the court that it would take $6,000 to cover her expenses. Williams paid the money and was admonished and discharged.

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