‘Why did he beat my son that bad?’
Mother of battered B.B. Coke High student rejects sympathies of accused attacker’s mom
Published:Thursday | October 5, 2023 | 12:11 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer -
WESTERN BUREAU:
SHANTEL GOULBOURNE, the mother of the 14-year-old B.B. Coke High School student who was savagely beaten into unconsciousness by an older student on September 28, is flatly rejecting the sympathies of the accused attacker’s representatives.
Speaking to The Gleaner on Wednesday evening, Goulbourne was dismissive of an offer of sympathy, which was made by the 16-year-old grade 11 student’s mother on Monday when the youth made his first appearance in the St Elizabeth Parish Court on the charge of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.
On Monday, the mother of the elder boy, while attending court, stated concisely: “As a mother, I sympathise with the mother [of the complainant], and it is in the hand of the court now. That is all I have to say.”
However, Goulbourne told The Gleaner yesterday that the aggressor’s mother was not being fortright.
“To me, it come in like the mother is not coming to say he [accused student] has done something wrong, and a try to make it look like him don’t do anything. My son is recovering, but what if the boy does it to someone else’s child and it is worse?” said Goulbourne.
She also lambasted statements made by the aggressor’s lawyer, Hopeton Marshall, that the aggressor “is not an aggressive child”.
“If the boy is not an aggressive child, why did he beat my son that bad? I don’t understand,” Goulbourne argued.
Previous reports show that the teenager had previously been suspended from school for disrespectful and violent behaviour towards teachers and fellow students.
Providing an update on her son’s condition while he recovers at the University Hospital of the West Indies [UHWI], Goulbourne said that he refuses to talk about the incident in which he was punched in both eyes and kicked in the head by the 16-year-old grade 11 student, resulting in blood gushing from his nose and his face being severely swollen.
“My son needs some time, and he doesn’t like to hear about it [the incident] because he said he didn’t deserve it because he didn’t do the young man anything. He’s talking and he’s eating but not like normal. His eating has cut down,” Goulbourne shared.
“He did a CT scan, a radiology test, and an eye test, and there is a next eye scan to be done tomorrow [Thursday]. Maybe he is going to need glasses,” Goulbourne added.
According to reports, the youngster was attacked and beaten by the senior student after he accidentally stepped on the other boy’s shoes while they were in a line collecting their cellular phones at a security post on the school compound.
The injured student was subsequently carried to a doctor’s office by other schoolmates in a move that was caught on video and subsequently went viral.
He was admitted to the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester before later being transferred to the UHWI for further treatment.
Speaking further on the incident’s impact on her family, Goulbourne said that she has lost a great deal of sleep since her son was admitted to hospital and that her five-year-old son is traumatised by what happened to his big brother.
“I have to fine fare every morning for the bus [to go to the hospital], sometimes pay a drive to bring me plus gas and lunch, and I have to fill my son’s prescription. It is not easy, and I am drained; I have not eaten from the incident took place, and I don’t remember what sleep feels like, but I am praying for strength,” said Goulbourne.
“My five-year-old is affected by his brother’s situation. He is afraid, he is not eating and has problems sleeping, and he is crying. I brought him to see his brother and he said he is afraid of how his brother looks,” Goulbourne added.
In the meantime, the accused aggressor made his second appearance in the St Elizabeth Parish Court on Wednesday, following his initial in-camera court appearance on Monday.
It is understood that he has taken up his $300,000 bail, which was offered to him during his last court hearing.
Attorney Marshall told The Gleaner that his client is to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before the young defendant returns to court on November 17.
“The matter was called up [on Wednesday], and counsel made a request for his client to be evaluated by a medical professional and the results to be submitted, hopefully, by the next date on November 17 when he returns to court. Request was also made for disclosure [of documents], which is incomplete as several statements are still outstanding, and the conditions of bail remain the same,” said Marshall.